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New Chicago Bears WR Coach Curtis Johnson Another Great Hire

By Bill Zimmerman

Oct 10, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Tulane Green Wave head coach Curtis Johnson looks on against the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field. The Temple Owls won 49-10. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Tulane Green Wave head coach Curtis Johnson looks on against the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field. The Temple Owls won 49-10. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /
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After the 2015 season, Chicago Bears wide receiver coach Mike Groh decided to leave Chicago and join the Los Angeles Rams for the same job he held in Chicago. Groh did get an additional title as ‘passing game coordinator,’ but many felt that the Bears could have made more of an effort to keep Groh as a member of the staff.

Groh was well-respected by the players and was one of the few coaches that survived the Ryan Pace/ John Fox purge from Marc Trestman’s staff. The loss of Groh, coupled with the loss of Adam Gase could have left the Bears vulnerable to an offensive regression in 2016, but leave it to Fox to keep his coaching staff at an elite level.

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Gase’s departure opened the door for Dowell Loggains to get a big opportunity with the Bears as offensive coordinator. He already had great rapport with QB Jay Cutler and he has an infectious personality that gets players excited to line up and play every day.

To replace Loggains position, the team hired former Louisville QB Dave Ragone as quarterback coach. While Ragone’s experience is limited, he has had success in the opportunities he’s been given. In 2013, he was the QB coach of the Tennessee Titans where, despite a pair of less then stellar QBs- Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jack Locker- the duo did manage to throw for over 3700 yards with 22 touchdowns. By 2015, Ragone had taken a job as an offensive assistant with the Washington Redskins where he worked alongside Kirk Cousins and helped Cousins have a breakout season last year.

While Fox went young to replace Loggains at QB coach, he went with a more experienced individual to replace Groh at the WR position. That man is Curtis Johnson. Johnson spent the last four years as the head coach of Tulane University football, where, to be fair, he struggled. The Green Wave went 15-34 under Johnson for four seasons, only having success in 2013, where they went 7-6 and played in the New Orleans Bowl. In each of his other three seasons, Tulane never amassed more than three wins.

However, from 1996 to 2011 Johnson was one of the most successful receivers coach at any level in football. He began in 1996 as the WR coach for the Miami Hurricanes where he spent years helping hone the skills of players such as Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, and Santana Moss. In 2006, he joined Sean Payton in New Orleans at the same position and helped the Saints create one of the most lethal passing attacks in NFL history.

After struggling at Tulane for four years, Johnson now returns to that familiar position where he’s had copious amounts of success in his career. He takes over a unit that is at a bit of a crossroads. Perhaps Johnson’s fiery demeanor is exactly what this unit needs.

Johnson doesn’t do anything nonchalantly. In his eyes, you are either all in, or all out. The Bears hope the attitude Johnson brings will help two receivers in particular- Kevin White and Alshon Jeffery.

After missing all of 2015 with a leg injury, White is either an experienced rookie or an inexperienced second-year player, depending on how you look at it. Johnson is going to look at White and consider him behind in his development and he’s going to work him hard and put big expectations on his shoulders.

The bigger challenge for Johnson will be to take Jeffery and turn a very good receiver into an elite one. Johnson knows that Jeffery has to want it, according to Dan Wiederer, says Johnson:

"It’s going to be different for him [Jeffery]. It’s going to be a little uncomfortable for him at first I would imagine… These guys give me the crazy fish-eyed look, and I give them the crazy, “Do it again!” look, but I think it’s going to be fun."

Oct 5, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 5, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

It’s clear Johnson has no interest in giving Jeffery the star treatment. Johnson knows how players see him, but he doesn’t care. He does whatever it takes to whip his players into top performers and that’s what he plans to do this season.

Johnson will be tasked with turning Jeffery into an elite player and get White on the fast track to success, while helping Eddie Royal rebound from a horrible 2015. Besides those three, he also needs to turn Daniel Braverman into a contributor and see if he can turn Marquess Wilson into a consistent receiving threat this season.

Those goals aren’t simple ones to achieve. But if the Bears are going to make a push for the playoffs while overcoming the losses of Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte and Martellus Bennett over the last 15 months, that’s exactly what needs to happen.

Johnson has the coaching talent to turn this collection of receivers into an outstanding group, but do the players have the talent to reciprocate? If Curtis Johnson has anything to say about that answer is ‘yes’ because he never takes ‘no’ for an answer.

Bill Zimmerman is an editor and featured writer for FanSided‘s BearGogglesOn. Like his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter for more news and interaction.

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