Fangio re-signed Friday and will continue to lead a defense he helped transform the past three seasons. He was the first candidate to interview for the Bears’ coaching job after John Fox was fired Bobby Okereke Jersey , but general manager Ryan Pace ultimately decided to go with former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
Fangio was free to go elsewhere after his contract expired. Before he arrived in Chicago, the Bears’ defense ranked among the worst in franchise history. They were more than respectable in 2017 under Fangio despite losing several players to injuries, including linebacker Leonard Floyd.
Chicago’s defense ranked 10th overall, seventh against the pass, ninth in scoring and 11th against the run.
With Fangio back, the Bears have filled all three coordinator spots.
The team announced Friday that it has hired former Oregon coach Mark Helfrich as offensive coordinator and Chris Tabor as special teams coordinator. The Bears also brought in Charles London to coach running backs and Mike Furrey as wide receivers coach.
Helfrich led Oregon to a 37-16 record in four seasons. That included a run to the first College Football Playoff championship game during the 2014 season with Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota at quarterback. He was fired after a 4-8 finish in 2016.
Before becoming the Ducks’ coach, Helfrich was their quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator from 2009-12 under Chip Kelly. With their fast-paced and prolific spread-option offense Khari Willis Jersey , the Ducks went 46-7 during that span.
Helfrich didn’t call plays as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and he won’t in Chicago. Nagy plans to do that.
The Bears are looking to get the most out of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and emerge from one of the worst runs in franchise history.
They fired Fox after three seasons with a 14-34 record that gave him the second-worst winning percentage for a Chicago coach. Nagy spent the past decade working under Andy Reid in Philadelphia and Kansas City and served as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator this past season.
He is trying to help turn around a team that missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season and hasn’t finished above .500 since Lovie Smith was fired after going 10-6 in 2012. The Bears were 5-11 in 2017.
The development of Trubisky, the No. 2 overall draft pick last spring, could go a long way toward lifting an offense that ranked 30th overall and last in passing. But the Bears will need to acquire some playmaking receivers.
Tabor spent the past seven seasons as Cleveland’s special teams coordinator. The Browns ranked sixth in kickoff return average against (21.8), seventh in the NFL in punt return average (9.9), ninth in total kick return yards (8,974) and 10th in total return yards allowed (7,627) during that time. Tabor was Chicago’s assistant special teams coach from 2008-2010.
London has spent nine seasons in the NFL – the past four as Houston’s running backs coach. He was an offensive assistant with the Bears from 2007-09.
Furrey played eight seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams Josh Allen Jersey , Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins. With Detroit in 2006, he ranked second in the league with 98 receptions while recording 1,086 yards and six touchdowns.
Furrey spent the past two years coaching at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C.
—
Bill Belichick will be known as one of the most brilliant football minds to ever live so long as the National Football League exists and is part of our society. Belichick earned multiple Super Bowl rings serving as a defensive coordinator, and he has hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy five times as a head coach as of May 2017. The perception that exists today is that Belichick can do little, if any Jawaan Taylor Jersey , wrong as it pertains to building a roster capable of contending for a championship. In fairness, he has a long history of finding great value in drafts and also signing quality free agents. One can only wonder where the Patriots would be at the end of the current decade if not for both Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.No entity is perfect, of course, and even a brilliant strategist such as Belichick has gotten plenty wrong throughout his illustrious career. He and his staffs have, over the years, drafted and signed players who failed to contribute much of anything to Patriots teams, and some of those decisions ended up costing New England opportunities to win titles. With that said Josh Oliver Jersey , Belichick routinely gets more right than wrong, and it’s why the Patriots continue to be the model franchise in a league that is supposed to be all about parity and giving every club an equal opportunity to find success. It’s possible, maybe even likely, they’ll never again be as great a coach as Belichick in the NFL.