This is definitely not the news we wanted to hear in Chicago …
Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears will lose their defensive coach, Jay Rodgers, to the Los Angeles Chargers.
His new role has not yet been confirmed, but in all likelihood he will be the Chargers’ new defense coordinator. Jay Rodgers was an internal candidate for the Bears with the same vacancy. Now he reunites with former Bears OLB coach Brandon Staley while they want to use their sledgehammer named Joey Bosa to destroy QBs across the AFC.
To say ‘this is a great loss’ in itself is an understatement.
He is by a considerable margin one of the best coaches in his position group in the NFL. In Chicago alone, we have seen how his incredible work touches every level of the depth map. From the big stars in Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman to emerging studs in Bilal Nichols and Roy Robertson-Harris, even the rotating guys found off the street played well when asked.
Originally arriving at Chicago Bears in 2015 with Vic Fangio and John Fox, we saw a good deal of consistency in discipline of effort, production and gap. He also has a coaching background with backs, and he has long been cared for a DC job. Whoever is appointed as the new Bears D-line coach has great shoes to complement.
Meanwhile, Sean Desai appears as the only candidate in Halas Hall, without Mark DeLeone or Ted Monachino recently getting the hang of it. Combined with the growing list of outside candidates – Jonathan Gannon, George Edwards, James Bettcher and Mike Singletary all interviewed for the DC job – it suggests we could hire someone from outside as the new Big Boss in defense.
Stay tuned ….