Chicago Bears: The impact of losing Ragone and London

The exodus from the Chicago Bears coaching staff has continued, this time on the offensive side of the ball.

Passing game coordinator and running backs coach Charles London heading to greener pastures. Earlier in the week, the Bears had lost Jay Rodgers to the San Diego Chargers, and now London and Ragone have been reunited with their former Titans coaching mate, newly minted Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Arthur Smith.

Rodgers had worked under both Fangio and Pagano as the Bears defensive line coach and has been lauded for his work with Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Roy Robertson-Harris, and even relative newcomers Brent Urban and Mario Edwards, Jr. He left to join Brandon Staley, who is the newly minted coach of the San Diego Chargers, after 1 year as a DC for the Rams.

There has been plenty of internet fodder over how Dave Ragone oversaw a below average passing game, but he wasn’t in charge of the play calling, nor was he playing quarterback himself. He was likely hired primarily on his growing expertise with play designs, being a long standing NFL QB coach with both the Bears and Titans, and his relationship with Smith. The latter is vital, because it appears Smith will be calling plays as head coach, taking some of the pressure off of Ragone.

Charles London — who coached running backs during the 2000’s under Lovie Smith — had also served in the same position at Penn State, Houston Texans, and then back with their Bears during the Matt Nagy regime. Interestingly enough, London will actually be moving to the quarterbacks room for his new job. Though it’s not uncommon, there is more similarities between what goes on in the backfield than the average fan may recognize.

Is it a good thing for the Chicago Bears? Maybe. It speaks to the Bears that the league recognizes the quality of position coaches, which certainly cannot be overlooked. Some can make the argument that they were hired because they had previously worked with the coaches that hired them, but that is literally how the NFL and college football operate.

Matt Nagy now only has receivers coach Mike Furrey as his lone holdover from his 2018 inaugural offensive staff. Where Nagy decides to go, and who is willing to join him on an offense that has not been reputable during his tenure to say the least is anyone’s guess. With newly hired coaches filling our their staff’s as we speak, Nagy’s options could become very limited.