The Chicago Bears are in the midst of making some changes to their coaching staff at the assistant level. This can't be considered a huge surprise. After all the team finished 3-13, the franchises' worst ever record in a 16-game season. Head coach John Fox knows he should feel fortunate to still have a job. Something needed to change though.
Often the way to do this is by shaking up the positional coaching staff. Already the Bears have seen four different coaches either leave or get fired. Safeties coach Sam Garnes and offensive line coach Dave Magazu were both released. Running backs coach Stan Drayton departed for Texas while outside linebackers coach Clint Hurtt left to join the New York Jets.
Replacing these men is next on the agenda for Fox. Speculation has continued on who the Bears may or may not be looking at but thus far it's been quiet in terms of who they actually might go after. That may have changed with the rise of a recent rumor. (continue to next page from top)
Ty Youngfelt has been a regular Chicago sports ace on Twitter for a long time. He garners a strong following of over 23, 000 including such notables as Dan Durkin of The Athletic and Jayson Braddock of Scout.com. It's reasonable to expect he might have some decent sources when it comes to his information, which is why it was interesting when he dropped this tweet a few hours ago.
https://twitter.com/TyYoungfelt/status/818138579369127940
Right now the Bears have two position spots open on their defensive staff. Jim Tomsula has spent 2016 away from the game after being fired as San Francisco 49ers head coach. Before that he was the defensive line coach for that team from 2007 to 2014. He makes sense for the Bears due to his relationship with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The two worked together for four seasons. In that span they put together a front seven that never ranked lower than eighth against the run.
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Joe Barry was recently released as defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins. Though he's never been able to find success at that job, he's had a long and productive career as a linebackers coach. He helped mold Derrick Brooks into the 2002 Defensive Player of the Year with Tampa Bay (while winning a Super Bowl). John Fox likely remembers him better from his four seasons in San Diego. Fox was still head coach in Denver at that time and Barry's linebackers were frequent headaches.
Perhaps the biggest fish mentioned is Ray Horton. He is another defensive coordinator fired by his recent team, the Cleveland Browns. It marks the fourth time this has happened to him since 2012. Not the most productive run for a man who was considered one of the brightest young coaches in the league. At the same time he's always had a magic touch with defensive backs.
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Since becoming a defensive backs coach in 1997 and through his time as a coordinator, Horton has helped six different players reach the Pro Bowl. Troy Polamalu won Defensive Player of the Year under his watch in 2010 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Horton is knowledgeable, experienced and has two Super Bowl rings.
Fox has a long history of being able to put together some top notch coaching staffs. If he were able to get one, two or all of these men in Chicago it would be a potential boon for the Bears defense going into 2017.
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