Will Chicago Bears let another stud DC slip out of town?
The Chicago Bears are in the midst of some turbulent times. This offseason, general manager Ryan Pace will have to navigate finding a new franchise quarterback, along with figuring out a way to improve the offensive line and bring back Allen Robinson, their star offensive player, among other things.
On the other side of the ball, head coach Matt Nagy’s most pressing matter is figuring out who will replace Chuck Pagano as their defensive coordinator. Pagano, who has been maligned this year by fans and blamed for the defense’s decline, retired at the end of the season.
Pagano, you may recall, replaced Vic Fangio, the beloved coordinator who left after the 2018 season to take the head coaching position with the Denver Broncos. At the time, Pagano seemed like a great hire given his head coaching experience and defensive pedigree with the Baltimore Ravens.
However, we have since learned that the best candidate to replace Fangio was inside Halas Hall, and the Bears let him get away. History has a funny way of repeating itself, and it it’s starting to feel like 2018 all over again.
Word over the weekend is that the Bears have requested permission to interview a number of external candidates including George Rogers and Jonathan Gannon. However, they have two incredibly strong internal candidates in Jay Rodgers and Sean Desai.
Rodgers has received rave reviews for his work with the defensive line, which has been incredible during his tenure. One year ago, I identified Rodgers as perhaps the most underrated coach in the league for his work with guys like Bilal Nichols, Nick Williams, Roy Robertson-Harris, Akiem Hicks, and Eddie Goldman. He also has a background that includes playing quarterback in college, so he has the requisite understanding of coverages to be a defensive coordinator.
As for Desai, former Bear Sam Acho was campaigning hard for the Bears to hire their current defensive backs coach. In fact, he called Desai a spitting image of former Bears’ assistant Brandon Staley, saying he is a “brilliant defensive mind” with a scheme that is “out of this world.”
Speaking of Staley, the Bears could have replaced Vic Fangio with Staley whose Los Angeles Rams defense was touted as cutting edge this season, as it dominated the league. However, the Bears chose to let another young, talented individual out of the building and are now watching him flourish as he was just hired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Next. Robert Quinn will be key to defensive resurgence. dark
Will the Bears make the same mistake with either Rodgers or Desai? Only time will tell, but history of bad decision-making is not on their side.