The Bears Bolster Coaching Staff
By Bob Burack
With the Chicago Bears turning their full attention to the draft and free agency, they recently added three new members to their coaching staff. Jeremiah Washburn, Curtis Modkins, and Roy Anderson have all been brought in as assistants.
Washburn takes over as the offensive line coach, replacing recently fired, Dave Magazu. Magazu was Fox’s longest-tenured assistant, dating back to his days in Carolina over 13 years ago.
Washburn, 39, has previously been on coaching staffs with Miami, Detroit, Baltimore, and Carolina. Most recently with the Dolphins, coaching a line that helped RB Jay Ajayi have a breakout season.
Modkins, who has been a coaching over 22 years, takes over as the running backs coach. For the 46-year-old, this role is a bit of a step down as he served as the OC in San Fransisco last year.
However, Modkins is no stranger to coaching the backfield, previously coaching running backs for Kanas City (2008), Arizona (2009), and Detroit (2013-15).
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Finally, Roy Anderson, 37, is the new assistant defensive backs coach and replaces Sam Garnes. Like Modkins, Anderson spent last year on one of the few teams with a worse record than Chicago, the San Fransisco 49ers
Before that Anderson spent seven seasons in various roles with the Baltimore staff. He served as player personnel assistant (2005-07), defensive assistant (2009), and secondary assistant (2010-11). Anderson was also a safety coach from 2012-2016, with both Indianapolis and San Fransisco.
Some coaching changes were expected after a lackluster 3-13 season. There could be more moves coming soon, as the Bears try to get their coaching staff in place before the draft and free agency begin.