Let’s Meet the New Chicago Bear Coaches
Meet Derius Swinton, the “new” Special Teams Assistant.
I'm told #Bears expected to hire Derius Swinton as assistant special teams coach. Held that role in 2015 and worked under Fox/Rodgers in DEN
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) February 19, 2017
It appears that John Fox really likes Derius Swinton because it only took one year for Fox to bring Swinton back to Chicago. After working with Fox in the 2013-2014 season, Swinton followed Fox to the Windy City in 2015. A one-year trial run with the 49ers followed, and now Swinton is back with the Bears.
Swinton has his work cut out for him this season. Whether that’s finding someone who can return the ball well enough to put the offense in a positive position or fixing the kicking situation, there is plenty of improvement to be made.
Speaking of kicking, Swinton may already have an inside track towards improvement. Many were unhappy with Connor Barth last season, partially because he replaced Robbie Gould and partially because he wasn’t any good (78.3 success rate).
In 2014 with the Broncos, Swinton helped Barth to the tune of a 93.8% success rate on field goals with only one miss in sixteen kicks.
Say what you will about a special teams assistant, but the Bears appeared to be better with Swinton on the staff. In field goal percentage, the Bears were worse the season before and after Swinton was in Chicago.
- 2014 – Broncos, 21st, 82.8% (Bears, 30th, 75%)
- 2015 – Bears, 18th, 84.6%
- 2016 – Niners, 13th, 85.7% (Bears, 27th, 78.3%)
According to Rick Gosselin’s composite special teams stats for all NFL teams, the same improvement holds true.
- 2014 – Broncos – 19th (Bears 26th)
- 2015 – Bears – 12th
- 2016 – Niners – 16th (Bears 27th)
The three new coaches may not be well-known names, but the Bears appear to have selected some very qualified people to improve this season’s staff. Due to some young building blocks in key places, coaching is as important as ever and Bear fans may know these coaches much better in the near future.