Bears Look to Talk to Packers DBs Coach

The Bears are attempting to bring in another member of the Green Bay Packers coaching staff.

They have requested permission to interview Packers defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator Jerry Gray for a coaching position with Matt Eberflus' staff, according to CBS' Jonathan Jones.

The only current coaching opening the Bears have is James Rowe's defensive backs position.

Just after the season, Rowe took a job at South Florida as defensive backs coach. USF is his alma mater. He had come to the Bears with Eberflus after serving one year in Indianapolis on Eberflus' staff.

Welcome back, @USFMuma alum!

James Rowe Returns To USF as Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Safeties Coach For Bulls Football https://t.co/O7G62trTxR
— USF Muma (@USFMuma) January 13, 2023

With the Bears, Rowe had David Overstreet as assistant DB coach and Andre Curtis is the safeties coach.

Whether the Packers would let Gray interview with a division rival for a comparable position isn't known at this point. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was the Packers passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach prior to coming to Chicago under Eberflus. But he took a coordinator position and the Bears didn't need permission to speak to him.

Jones also said Gray is a candidate for the vacant Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator job. Former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is a candidate for that job, as well.

Gray is a long-time NFL assistant, after playing for the Rams, Oilers and Buccaneers. He has been an NFL coach since 1997 and was defensive coordinator for the Bills from 2001-05 and Titans from 2011-13.

The Bears have requested permission to interview Packers defensive pass game coordinator/DBs coach Jerry Gray for an as-yet-undefined defensive coaching position.

Gray is also interviewing this week in Atlanta for the vacant defensive coordinator position.
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) January 20, 2023

He also was defensive backs coach for the Oilers (1997-98) and defensive quality control coach for the Tennessee Titans ( 1999-2000), then defensive backs coach for Washington (2006-09), Seahawks (2010), Vikings (2014-19) and has been in Green Bay since 2020, first as defensive backs coach and this year as defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator.

Green Bay was fifth and sixth in 2020 and 2021 in interceptions. This season they were seventh in pass defense.

Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry came under heavy criticism throughout the season until the team had a late turnaround on defense and made a run at the playoffs.

The Bears secondary this past season improved in passer rating against from 103.3 (last in the NFL) to 94.4 despite losing every starter in the secondary for at least two games over the course of the final five games.

Late Thursday ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported the Bears sought permission to talk to Washington DBs coach Chris Harris, the former Bears safety and assistant. Harris was a quality control coach to start his career under former Bears coach Marc Trestman in 2013.

Harris was assistant defensive backs coach with the Chargers from 2016-19 and has been DB coach with Washington since 2020.

Harris was a sixth-round pick in 2005 and played two years for them before being dealt to Carolina. He returned in 2010 and played for the team that made the NFC championship game and then was cut during the 2011 season. He also played for Carolina, Jacksonville and Detroit, and made 16 career interceptions.

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