The Chicago Bears had arguably the worst season in modern team history regarding their tight end position. None of the five primary players who featured on offense managed to top 100 yards receiving. Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen both ended their seasons on Injured Reserve. This forced them to lean on undrafted rookie Jesper Horsted and journeyman vet J.P. Holtz for any sort of production. These failures ultimately cost tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride his job.
Now head coach Matt Nagy must busy himself with finding a replacement. Early signs are he’s looking for men with proven experience. Already he hired Juan Castillo as offensive line coach, a job he’s held with various teams dating back to 1995. One can imagine he’ll want similar proven pedigree at the tight ends spot. If this is the case, then there is one name out there he can’t afford to ignore.
His name is Brian Ferentz.
Some people may recognize the last name. He is the son of longtime Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and is currently that program’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. This is important since that college has become a true hotbed for talent at that position in recent years. Two of their number in T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant were 1st round picks in 2019.
Ferentz’s track record goes further back than that though.
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Chicago Bears need an eye for TE talent and Ferentz has it
A lot of people don’t remember this, but Ferentz first cut his teeth in the NFL with the New England Patriots. He was their assistant tight ends coach in 2010. That happened to be the same year they drafted a young man named Rob Gronkowski in the 2nd round. Ferentz then was promoted to tight ends coach a year later in 2011. Gronkowski wound up having the best season of his career, going for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns. That’s not even counting Aaron Hernandez who had 910 yards and 7 TDs of his own.
It’s clear he understands how to elevate that position. This is not to say he’ll suddenly work a miracle by finally unlocking the potential of Shaheen. However, given Ryan Pace’s track record at finding tight ends, he might need somebody in the building who is far more proven in this regard. Not only can Ferentz coach them, he can identify the good ones as well. This would be an under-the-radar hire for the Bears.
