Bears' head coach Ben Johnson reaches a final decision on the hiring of a key positional coach for a critical position group
Upon arriving in Chicago as the Bears' new head coach, Ben Johnson knew which area the team should look to improve based on his time with the Detroit Lions."I think the offensive line is certainly an area that we need to get better play from going forward," Johnson said. “We will develop a plan of […]
Upon arriving in Chicago as the Bears' new head coach, Ben Johnson knew which area the team should look to improve based on his time with the Detroit Lions.
"I think the offensive line is certainly an area that we need to get better play from going forward," Johnson said. “We will develop a plan of attack for how to get that done, but I'm looking forward to getting an excellent offensive line coach into the building to help develop the young talent that we already have on the roster. We will certainly talk about acquiring talent to bolster that unit as well. I was certainly blessed the last few years with the men that I worked with, and that was something I would love to replicate here as well."
The Bears' offensive line has desperately needed to be overhauled for years. After slapping a bunch of band-aids on it and allowing your rookie quarterback to lead the league in sacks taken, it's great to finally see a coach address the issue publicly.
The first step of the process to address that issue was accomplished on Monday. According to Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune, the Bears are expected to hire Dan Roushar as the team's offensive line coach on Johnson's staff.
This is yet another phenomenal hire and grab by the first-year head coach. Roushar has become a legendary offensive line coach at the NFL and college level and now becomes set another branch off the Sean Payton tree to join the Bears.
Roushar was most recently the offensive line coach at Tulane over the last two seasons but prior to that spent a decade in New Orleans working with the Saints offensive line, running backs, and tight ends. Given his prior experience, don't be surprised if Roushar is given run game coordinator duties as well.
With the Saints, Roushar led a star-studded position group up-front that featured multiple Pro Bowl offensive linemen such as Ryan Ramczyk, Terron Armstead, Larry Warford, Andrus Peat, and Max Unger.
Roushar worked in New Orleans alongside Detroit Lions' head coach Dan Campbell. Johnson has weighed heavily on the advice of Campbell in forming his first-ever coaching staff and he's fortunate Campbell didn't look to snatch Roushar first.
The Bears also interviewed other candidates for the role, including former Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye, who was recently hired by the Arizona Cardinals.
This hire is a big step toward rebuilding the Bears' offensive front, now the team just needs to identify the right players to put in place.
Ben Johnson’s latest coaching hire gives the Bears another connection to the team’s top free agent target
This adds even more smoke.
