Jennifer King

Bears Finalize 2024 Coaching Staff

March 2nd, 2024 at 2:30pm CST by Ely Allen

This offseason, the Bears had to replace both coordinator positions, a situation that usually results in quite a bit of turnover on either side of the staff. Head coach Matt Eberflus allowed each coordinator to make final decisions on their staff, but many assistants (particularly on the defense) were retained in Chicago for the 2024 NFL season.

We’ll start on defense, where Eberflus likely influenced some of the decisions made by new defensive coordinator Eric Washington. The staff looks fairly similar to last year’s with defensive line coach Travis Smith, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, cornerbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator Jon Hoke, safeties coach Andre Curtis, and defensive quality control coach Kevin Koch all being retained in their prior roles. David Overstreet also remains on staff, but his title changes from assistant defensive backs coach to nickelbacks coach. Kenny Norton III also earned a promotion, going from coaching assistant to defensive quality control coach.

The only two new additions on defense appear to be Bryan Bing, who replaces Justin Hinds as assistant defensive line coach, and new defensive analyst (advance/special projects) Matt Pees. After Hinds departed to take the defensive line coaching job in Seattle, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the Bears landed on Bing, who served as a defensive assistant with the Colts last year as a Tony Dungy Diversity Coaching Fellow. Pees is the son of long-time defensive coordinator Dean Pees and previously spent the last three years as a defensive assistant with the Falcons, working two of those years under his father.

On the offensive side of the ball, we already knew that new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron had hired Kerry Joseph as quarterbacks coach, Chad Morton as running backs coach, Chris Beatty as wide receivers coach, Thomas Brown as passing game coordinator, and Jason Houghtaling as assistant offensive line coach. Houghtaling will assist Chris Morgan, who was retained as offensive line coach and granted the additional title of offensive run game coordinator. Also retained were tight ends coach Jim Dray and offensive quality control coach Zach Cable.

There were three notable additions to the staff on offense. Both Ryan Griffin and Robbie Picazo will serve under the title offensive assistant (quarterbacks and wide receivers). Griffin, a former NFL quarterback, is taking his first coaching gig after a short stint in the Italian Football League last year. Picazo spent the past two years as an offensive assistant with the Seahawks and Texans, coaching at Rice and Stanford at the collegiate level for several years before that. The final offensive addition is Jennifer King, who will be the team’s offensive assistant (running backs). After becoming the first black woman to be named a full-time NFL coach as an assistant running backs coach for the past three year with the Commanders, King continues her NFL journey, this time in Chicago.

Lastly, the Bears enlisted the services of Chavis Cook to manage coaching administration.

There you have it. Eberflus has crafted a new staff with a mix of new and familiar faces. With the new staff locked in, the team can now turn its attention to free agency, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, and the future of quarterback Justin Fields.

Coaching Notes: Rams, WFT, Jets, Falcons, Broncos, Steelers

January 21st, 2021 at 9:44pm CST by Ben Levine

The Rams have found their new special teams coordinator, as the team announced that they’ve hired Joe DeCamillis. The veteran coach will be replacing John Bonamego, who’s transitioning to a senior coaching assistant role.

DeCamillis brings 32 years of NFL coaching experience, including the past four years as the Jaguars special teams coordinator. During his stint in Jacksonville, the team traditionally ranked top-10 in many special teams categories, and in 2019, DeCamillis helped guide punter Logan Cooke and kicker Josh Lambo to becoming the first teammates to lead the NFL in net punting average and field goal percentage.

Prior to working with the Jaguars, the 55-year-old spent time as special teams coordinator with the Broncos, Bears, and Cowboys, and he also spent time on the Falcons and Giants coaching staffs.

Bonamego, 57, joined the Rams last February. He spent the 2019 season as special teams coordinator of the Lions, and he was Central Michigan’s head coach between the 2015 and 2018 seasons.

Some more coaching notes from around the league…

Jennifer King is expected to become a full-time offensive assistant on Washington‘s coaching staff, reports NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). This makes King “the first full-time Black female coach in NFL history,” per The Athletic. The Guilford College product spent the 2020 season as a full-year coaching intern on Ron Rivera‘s staff.
It’s looking like new Jets head coach Robert Saleh has finalized his offensive coaching staff. We previously heard about the hirings of Mike LaFleur as offensive coordinator, Greg Knapp as quarterbacks coach, John Benton as offensive line coach, and Rob Calabrese as passing game specialist. ESPN’s Rich Cimini passed along a few names we can add to the list, including wide receivers coach Miles Austin, running backs coach Taylor Embree, and tight ends coach Ron Middleton. As Cimini notes, the staff doesn’t feature a whole lot of experience, with Calabrese, Embree, and Austin serving as first-time NFL positional coaches.
The Falcons are expected to hire Charles London as their new quarterbacks coach, reports NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). It’s a bit of an interesting hire, as London has spent the last nine years serving as a running backs coach with the Texans, Bears, and Penn State. However, the 45-year-old does have experience as an offensive assistant/quality control coach with the Titans and Bears.
Mike Klis of 9News in Denver tweets that Broncos running backs coach Curtis Modkins has drawn interest “from around the league as offensive coordinator.” The 50-year-old has consistently served as an NFL running backs coach since the 2008 season, spending time with the Chiefs, Cardinals, Bills, Lions, 49ers, and Bears.
Mike Tomlin interviewed Hank Fraley for the Steelers OL coach gig, reports Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette (via Twitter). Fraley actually started his NFL career in Pittsburgh, as the Steelers signed him as an undrafted free agent back in 2000. Following a playing career that saw him appear in 142 games (mostly with the Eagles and Browns), Fraley has served as a coach at both the collegiate and professional level, including a recent stint as the Lions offensive line coach.

Extra Points: Redskins, Agholor, Spagnuolo

February 8th, 2020 at 9:49pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Redskins and Ron Rivera are making a historic hire. Washington is hiring Jennifer King as an offensive assistant, a source told Adam Schefter and David Newton of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The news of the potential hire was first reported by Rhiannon Walker of The Athletic (Twitter link). King will now be the first full-time African American female assistant coach. As Schefter points out there’s some familiarity here, as Rivera had hired King as a summer intern when he was with the Panthers. It furthers a trend we’ve seen developing the past couple of years, as women continue to make more inroads into the coaching ranks. Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians has been a champion of female coaches, and he hired two women to full-time coaching positions on his staff before last season. King also coached with the Arizona Hotshots of the short-lived AAF.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Eagles fired offensive coordinator Mike Groh after the season ended, and it looks like they could be headed for a lot of turnover on that side of the ball. Receiver Nelson Agholor is “unlikely to return” next year, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. A first-round pick back in 2015, Agholor just finished the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, and is slated for unrestricted free agency. He missed the last month-plus of the 2019 campaign, but was pretty much always a full-time starter for Philly when healthy. He struggled with inconsistency and drops, but also had plenty of good moments with the Eagles. He scored eight touchdowns in 2017, and had at least 736 yards in each of his last two full seasons. Despite the sometimes maddening inconsistency, the 26-year-old USC product should draw plenty of interest on the open market.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo just won another Super Bowl, and he earned a ton of praise for his work with Kansas City’s defense. The unit made major strides from last season after he took over, and it sounds like he hopes to parlay the success into another shot at a head coaching gig. “Oh, certainly,” Spagnuolo told Zach Gelb of CBS Sports Radio when asked if he’d be interested in being a head coach again, via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. “Listen, that desire and passion never changes. But I will say this . . . I’m a blessed man to have the job I have. If it’s not in God’s plans, I’m OK with that. But I’ve always kept preparing myself that way. It would be great if it happened, and if not, again, I’m very fortunate to be where I am.” The thought would’ve seemed like a huge reach a year ago, but Spags bounced back in a big way. He first rose to prominence as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, and his success in New York led to him becoming head coach of the Rams. He was fired after going 10-38 in three years as St. Louis’ head coach. He also served as New York’s interim coach for four games in 2017 after Ben McAdoo was fired.