The Chicago Bears are staying busy trying to plug holes in their coaching staff. Thus far head coach Matt Nagy appears to have a plan. After some deliberation the past few days, he decided to promote safeties coach Sean Desai to defensive coordinator. A move that was met with a lot of praise from former Bears players who know the longtime assistant well.
There are also reports the team is pursuing Duce Staley for an assistant role on offense. Staley is one of the most respected running backs coaches in the NFL and he’s worked with Nagy before. The Bears just lost their own running backs coach Charles London to Atlanta. So this move would make a ton of sense and add lots of credibility.
The bigger question is Dave Ragone.
He was the Bears passing game coordinator last season. He too is heading off to Atlanta as their new offensive coordinator. People aren’t sure if the team is going to plug that hole too or just leave it vacant. With quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, it’s not a position one might consider essential to the offense.
At least not to casual fans. Nagy though? He may have a desire to have as many quality brains on his staff as possible. Especially those with a background at quarterback. This might explain why they have an interest in Jay Gruden. A source informed SM that the former Washington Football Team head coach is a potential target for an assistant role on the staff.
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Chicago Bears would benefit from Gruden’s presence
Gruden most recently was the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. A one-year venture that he’d probably like to forget. Beset by all sorts of personnel issues, the team finished 1-15 on the season with the 28th ranked offense. Even so, Gruden managed the 21st ranked passing attack despite employing three different quarterbacks and also turned undrafted rookie James Robinson into a 1,000-yard rusher.
Gruden has been coaching in the NFL since way back in 2002 as an assistant in Tampa Bay. Eventually, he became offensive coordinator in Cincinnati where he oversaw the early success of quarterback Andy Dalton. This led to his appointment as head coach in Washington where he helped to elevate Kirk Cousins from backup to eventual Pro Bowler. They made the playoffs in 2015. Sadly they couldn’t quite get over the hump after that.
It’s not hard to see why Matt Nagy would like him.
Not only is Gruden well-versed in offensive football, but the two also share a connection. They actually played against each other as quarterbacks in the Arena Football League. Gruden won the first meeting in 2004. They traded wins the next year in the regular season before Nagy got the last laugh in the Conference Championship game. They’ve played against each other and coached against each other.
It isn’t a surprise Nagy would be interested in bringing somebody he knows and respects onto the Chicago Bears staff. What isn’t clear is if Gruden does sign what his ultimate role will be.