The Bears Announce Changes to Matt Eberflus’ Coaching Staff

During his year-end press conference, Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus hinted at making changes to his coaching staff. But January ended without any changes. However, the silence came to an end on Wednesday, when the team made an announcement regarding staff changes.

Here’s what’s shakin’ at Halas Hall:

• Jon Hoke re-joins the Bears as a Cornerbacks Coach/Passing Game Coordinator.
• Isaiah Harris jumps on board as a Player Engagement/Strength & Conditioning Coach.
• The Pierre Ego hiring as an assistant strength and conditioning coach became officially official.
• Same for the Zach Cable (Offensive Quality Control) hire.
• There were also promotions for Omar Young (Assistant QBs and WRs Coach) and Carls Super (Director of Wellness).
• And, finally, Mike Wiley Jr. was named Director of Mental Skills/Performance.

Whew. That was A LOT. But let’s discuss the most notable change with the re-hiring of Jon Hoke.

Hoke is joining the Bears for a second tour of duty. He was a Bears defensive backs coach from 2009-14, a stretch in which he would work for Lovie Smith and Marc Trestman. Chicago’s DBs were mostly top tier during that era, coming up with the fourth-most interceptions (111) and pick-sixes (20) over that time span. Since leaving the Bears after the 2014 season, Hoke has been in South Carolina (Co-Defensive Coordinator and DBs Coach, 2015), with the Buccaneers (DBs Coach, 2016-18), at Maryland (Defensive Coordinator, 2019-20), and with the Falcons (Secondary Coach 2021-22). I reckon that the Hoke addition means that Chris Harris, who reportedly had an offer on the table from the Bears, won’t be joining Eberflus’ staff. So much for a homecoming party.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think the Bears are quite out of the woods yet. Because as more coach hirings surface around the league, there could be others who jump ship. And if that happens, the Bears will have to make more hirings. But I suppose we can cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, these are the changes on our plate right now. Hopefully, these hires are quality ones that keep the Bears going in the right direction.