Inside The Panthers

Bears Hire Former Pitt Assistant Coach

The Chicago Bears are bringing a former Pitt Panthers assistant coach onto their staff.

Stephen Thompson

Bears Hire Former Pitt Assistant Coach
Bears Hire Former Pitt Assistant Coach /
In this story:

PITTSBURGH -- A former Pitt Panthers assistant coach is on the move from one NFL job to another this week. 

ESPN's Courtney Cronin reported this week that Chris Beatty, a former wide receivers coach at Pitt, will join the Chicago Bears as their new wide receivers coach, reuniting with a former player of his from Maryland in star wide receiver D.J. Moore. Beatty had previously held the same position with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Beatty's long coaching career includes a two-year stint at Pitt during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, where he briefly coached some future stars like D.J. Turner (now with the Las Vegas Raiders), Jared Wayne (Houston Texans practice squad) and Jordan Addison (a 2023 first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings). 

After a decorated career as a receiver at East Tennessee State, where he set the school record for receiving yards in a career, Beatty played in the Canadian Football League for three seasons before retiring from his playing career. 

Beatty's coaching career began at the high school level in Virginia, before he caught on with Hampton University as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2006. He worked his way up as an offensive assistant from Hampton to Northern Illinois, West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Wisconsin, Virginia and Maryland before arriving at Pitt. He rarely spent more than one season in one job or at one school. 

His work with the Panthers earned him his first NFL coaching job with the Chargers in 2021, where he had been ever since. 

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

Pitt Fitting Frontcourt With Matchups

Pitt's Next Opponent Dealing With Illness Issues

Former Pitt QB Regrets Shot at West Virginia

Former Pitt QB Interviewing for Buccaneers OC Job

Pitt's Jeff Capel Addresses Controversial No-Call

Pitt's Shooting Woes Return in Loss to Miami

Published
Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

Home/Football