Bears Lose Defensive Line coach Jay Rodgers to Chargers

One of the most effective Bears defensive assistants will move on to coach under Brandon Staley with the Los Angeles Chargers

The Bears have not made defensive line coach Jay Rodgers their new defensive coordinator and as a result he is headed to Los Angeles.

According to a Tribune report by Brad Biggs, Rodgers will move on to coach on new coach Brandon Staley's staff with the Chargers.

Rodgers has been in Chicago since 2015, joining the defensive staff under Vic Fangio and helping the defense to finish first in 2018 against the run and ninth in 2019. They were 15th this past season and haven't been out of the top half of the league against the run since 2016.

Bears defensive end Akiem Hicks often has credited Rodgers with playing a big role in his improvement since coming to Chicago.

It's not just with Hicks, either. Rodgers had a knack for taking players discarded elsewhere, or undrafted or late draft picks and helping them develop. He did this with Roy Robertson-Harris, Brent Urban, Bilal Nichols and Mario Edwards, as well as former Bears defensive end Nick Williams. Rodgers also brought along 2015 second-round Eddie Goldman, who opted out in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns.

Now the worries for coach Matt Nagy have to be whether they might lose another member of their defensive staff or two. Safeties coach Sean Desai reportedly has been considered for the role of defensive coordinator and if they give it instead to one of the other candidates like Jonathan Gannon or James Bettcher, the Bears might also need to replace a safeties coach. 

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