Coaching candidate list names multiple Bears assistants but there’s another one Ben Johnson should be most worried about losing
Antwaan Randle El is quietly building a strong case for a head coaching job.
When Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson assembled his first coaching staff earlier in the year, he made some absolute slam dunk hires all across the board.
He’s talked numerous times about how influential defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has been, not only calling the defense but being an experienced voice to lean on when it comes to Johnson’s duties as a head coach. The same goes for the support he gets on the offensive side of the ball from offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.
Then, you go down the list of positional assistants such as offensive line coach Dan Roushar, defensive backs coach Al Harris, running backs coach Eric Bieniemy, and other experienced veterans who have been around good football in this league.
Johnson was also smart about mixing in some young rising coaches on his staff, with Doyle being the main one. But, even with positional coaches such as quarterback coach J.T. Barrett, passing game coordinator Press Taylor, and retaining tight ends coach Jim Dray.
All four of those young candidates were listed on Tom Pelissero’s annual young head coaching candidates to know ahead of the 2026 hiring cycle. But, there’s another one who narrowly missed the age cut-off that Johnson should really be worried about losing.
Ben Johnson should be worried most about losing Antwaan Randle El in 2026
When it comes to Doyle, Barrett, Taylor, and Dray, all of those are bright offensive candidates with a great future ahead of them when it comes to being an NFL coach. The thing is, Johnson is calling the offense in Chicago as the play-caller, which is something other teams consider when looking at candidates. It’s not the end all be all, but being a really good play-caller holds weight and if you’re not calling plays, you need to be good at leading the players in other ways.
That being said, the assistant Johnson should really be worried about losing to the hiring cycle next season is actually Antwaan Randle El. After a nine year career in the NFL, Randle El got his coaching career started with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before joining the Detroit Lions under Dan Campbell as the wide receivers coach working alongside Johnson.
When Johnson got the job in Chicago, Randle El made the lateral move becoming the Bears wide receivers coach, but got the added title of being the assistant head coach as well. Last week, Johnson went into detail on what some of those additional duties include.
“He is such an integral part to what we are doing,” Johnson said of Randle El. “El talks to the team in the Friday team meeting. He’s talking about you start with this hope going into the season. You start pulling away with some of these wins, and you start believing in what we are doing. And then you get the next step is knowing. Knowing what’s going to happen next. I’m glad the guys have really resonated with what he has said.”
That added role is what could make Randle El a potential target for another team with a coaching opening and he’s still a young candidate at 46-years-old and just barely missed consideration for Pelissero’s list that cut off at 45-years-old.
Another positive sign helping Randle El’s case is the jump wide receiver Rome Odunze has taken from Year 1 to Year 2 and the continued development of rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III, which Doyle credits to the amount of time he spends working with Randle El. Not to mention the energy he brings on gamedays and the way he can fire up his guys.
It really makes me think of Dan Campbell, another former player who made the jump to head coach going from positional coach, to assistant head coach, to finally landing a job in the big chair with immediate success turning around a culture. If I were looking for the next leader-of-men style coach who brings some fire to the building, I would make sure I interview Randle El.
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