The Chicago Bears are working to replace not one, but two assistants on head coach Ben Johnson’s staff following the offseason departures of Declan Doyle (Baltimore Ravens) and Eric Bieniemy (Kansas City Chiefs), and their plan of attack has hit a snag.
Johnson and Co. have already continued trucking along, but the development underscores the complexity of their situation.
That and a check in with the team’s Pro Bowlers star in this news update.
Bears’ OC Plan Hits Predictable Snag to Lead News Roundup
Bears Planning Around Double-Edged Sword
One of the biggest appeals in having a head coach like Johnson is the continuity he provides for the franchise quarterback as the offensive play-caller. However, that also limits the list of candidates Johnson can draw from to fill the void at OC.
The reality of that can be shown in the Bears’ recent targets and the outcomes of those situations.
First, the Bears requested and were denied access to Troy Walters of the Cincinnati Bengals.
“The Bears requested to interview Bengals WR coach Troy Walters for their offensive coordinator position but he declined, source tells @NFLonCBS,” CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported on X on February 3. “Walters, who’s had multiple OC looks the last few years, will stay in Cincy with hopes to win with one of the best units in football.”
Walters just completed his sixth season with the Bengals, where he began as an assistant WR coach in 2020.
He also had stints as an OC at the collegiate level before that.
Walters is not the play-caller in Cincinnati; that is Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. And it is debatable how many rungs down the ladder he is with an offensive coordinator (Dan Pitcher) and offensive passing game coordinator (Justin Rascati) among his fellow Bengals assistants.
That is not much different from what Walters would receive with the Bears, albeit with the chance of more responsibilities from planning practice to relaying halftime adjustments.
As long as Johnson remains in place, which the Bears hope is a while, this will be the case.
Coaches are always eager to move up. Unfortunately for the Bears, they represent a textbook case of doing so for the right situation. The Bears look like a team on the rise. Moreover, many a young up-and-coming coach would surely like to be a part of the group cultivating that.
However, there will always be questions and uncertainty with Johnson’s play-calling operating as the line of demarcation.
The Bears appear aware of their circumstances.
“The #Bears have requested to interview Connor Senger for their offensive coordinator position, source said,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on X on Tuesday. “Senger is Arizona’s pass game specialist and called plays in last week’s East-West Shrine Bowl. He interviewed for the Bills and Packers QB jobs last weekend.”
The Bears’ unconventional targets suggest they know luring an experienced OC candidate could prove tricky. That makes the title (and a presumed pay raise) the biggest selling points for the Bears. But the OC position is defined on the field.
That does not make Senger or Walters an unworthy candidate. Targets like that should, ideally, be more obtainable for Johnson and the Bears than others, though.