Ben Johnson has spent the past couple of weeks meticulously piecing together his new coaching staff. It is hard not to be impressed by what he’s assembled. New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was widely considered one of the best available. The same goes for passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach Al Harris. Antwaan Randle El takes over the wide receiver room after tremendous work developing two studs in Detroit, while Dan Roushar brings his excellent track record to the offensive line.
Those are the names fans and experts have been most taken by. People inside the NFL like them, too. However, there is one that isn’t being mentioned nearly enough. Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated found that out the hard way when he compiled his list of future head coaches. One name that many people in the league brought up might be a shock to Chicago.
Richard Hightower.
There’s obviously a long way to go, but Johnson also succeeded in my mind by securing Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator. Allen offers an important sounding board for Johnson and the ability to help Johnson craft team messaging. Declan Doyle is also a sharp choice at offensive coordinator. Doyle rose quickly in the Sean Payton system and was, at one point, the youngest coach in the NFL to take charge of a position room while in Denver. Holding on to Richard Hightower should not be overlooked, either. When I completed my list of future head coaches in 2024, the omission of Hightower was by far the one I received the most comments about. Hightower is well-respected with a great ability to relate to players and is looked at as a possible future head coach himself.
Ben Johnson knew retaining Hightower was a wise decision.
People will jump on this idea as fantasy, given how the Bears’ special teams have struggled in recent years. Has it? Kicker Cairo Santos has had two of the three most accurate seasons of his career since Hightower took over. They were top 10 in kick return yards in 2022 and 2023. They downed the 4th-most punts inside the 20 of any team this past season. It hasn’t always been perfect, but Hightower has gotten good results from a roster that people keep forgetting has been in a full rebuild.
No, he hasn’t been perfect. There is always room for improvement. That said, Hightower is well-respected around the league, and players seem to love him. Ben Johnson seemed to understand that. Rather than just wiping the slate clean as most head coaches would’ve done, he recognized a potential asset and chose to keep it around. We will see if he regrets that decision in the months to come.
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