Bear Digest

Sean Payton connection makes Bears' Dan Roushar hiring a slam dunk

Sean Payton's Saints staff has provided many of the members of the Bears coaching staff, and the interconnectivity can't hurt for a rapid adjustment.
Gene Chamberlain|
The Saints' sidelines under Sean Payton in the last decade seems to be a place where the Bears found assistants.
The Saints' sidelines under Sean Payton in the last decade seems to be a place where the Bears found assistants. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Dan Roushar’s hiring took so long to announce, it almost seemed like Ben Johnson decided to hatch an offensive line coach rather than sign one.

It’s done now and the Bears are much better for it.

Then again, after the last four years, they might have been better with a hatchling coaching the line.

Getting Caleb Williams and Justin Fields beat up and then blaming it on the quarterback holding the ball too long is all done now. Accountabilty should be there for the line, too.

To be sure, former Bears line coach Chris Morgan came in after being a line coach for a Super Bowl team in only his second season at Atlanta. That’s no small achievement, and Dan Quinn’s Falcons were fifth in rushing, second on offense and first in scoring when they blew the Super Bowl against the Patriots for the 2016 season.

Protecting mobile passers is different and maybe not something Morgan could handle in Chicago, and leave it at that.

What the Bears should like about Roushar’s hiring is they took a good look at very successful college line coaches, reportedly Ohio State’s Justin Frye, who went to the Cardinals, and Notre Dame’s Joe Rudolph. That’s the two best from college last year to teach a group of linemen who could be very young. It’s a good idea.

They chose Roushar because his reputation is being able to teach this way. He was in college at Tulane because he’d lost the Saints job but decided to stay in the New Orleans area. But the 64-year-old Roushar also had been able to develop one of the better offensive lines in that franchise’s history.

Roushar immediately had success at getting the running game moving in New Orleans at the Bears can use some of that after finishing 25th in rushing.

The Saints went from 24th to 16th in rushing in Roushar’s first year, then finished top 10 in three of the next four seasons.

They never finished worse than eighth at preventing sacks and were top five four times from from 2016-20 with Roushar as line coach.

Terron Armstead, Andrus Peat, Larry Warford, and Max Unger made 10 combined Pro Bowls under Roushar's guidance. The Bears last had a Pro Bowl offensive lineman in 2018.

Getting that combination of good pass blocking and run blocking has been very elusive for the Bears up front and if they can get the talent to coach, there has to be every bit of expectation he’ll do the same again.

The side benefit of bringing in Roushar is the Saints connection. This staff is well connected already coming to Chicago. It makes for comfort and better chances for a fast start.

Ben Johnson wasn’t with the Saints but many of the assistants were through their connection to Lions coach Dan Campbell in his time iin New Orleans.

Roushar, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle,  defensive coach Bill Johnson and quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett was a former player for the Saints with many of these coaches. Barrett also was a Lions coach with Johnson.

The interconnectivity of this Bears coaching staff is something the Bears had under Matt Eberflus only on defense at first, and later some of those coaches filtered out of the building anyway.

The difference from those connected under Eberflus is these are coaches from a team coached by Sean Payton, who finished there with seven division titles and nine playoff berths. They were successful. The Colts were a so-so team and according to Dan Wiederer of the Tribune, Indianapolis was going to fire Eberflus had he not been hired by the Bears.

This group will have a much better idea of how to translate their past success to Halas Hall.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.