Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune goes over changes to the Bears staff for the 2026 season.
Press Taylor will be offensive coordinator after spending last year as the passing game coordinator. Eric Studesville has been named running backs coach. He spent nine seasons with the Miami Dolphins, overlapping there for two years with Ben Johnson. Will Lawing, who was teammates with Johnson at North Carolina, will be an offensive analyst. Isaiah Ford was hired as an offensive quality control assistant. Ford was drafted as a wide receiver by the Dolphins in 2017. Johnson was a Miami wide receivers coach in 2017 and 2018..
Its not a big deal, especially this year when two of the assistants (Lawing and Ford) are low on the coaching pathway, but is always bothers me when new staff additions all have previous connections to the head coach.
I get it. These are people you know and are comfortable with. But it always makes you wonder if the best people for the job are being hired. You’d like to eventually see Johnson branch out to find new blood. Otherwise, the quality coaching staff will eventually degrade.
Admittedly, in the meantime, Johnson is the most important member of the staff and it’s entirely possible that he, as head coach will be driving them to a better than average quality.