Ed Donatell joins Vic Fangio with Denver Broncos
Ed Donatell will become Vic Fangio’s defensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos.
When Vic Fangio left his defensive coordinator position with the Chicago Bears to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming an NFL head coach, it was obvious that there were going to be some changes to the defensive coaching staff.
Chuck Pagano was hired as the Bears’ new defensive coordinator, and Pagano’s position specialty is defensive backs. That immediately put popular DB coach Ed Donatell’s spot up in the air, especially being how closely he has worked with Vic Fangio.
On top of that, Donatell was out of contract so the Bears had no way of blocking him from leaving the team.
It’s now official that Donatell is gone as the Denver Broncos’ officially announced that he will become the new defensive coordinator under Fangio. Fangio will run the defensive unit and call plays, similar to how Matt Nagy handles the Bears’ offense. Donatell’s role on the Broncos’ defense should be similar to what Mark Helfrich brings to the Bears’ offense.
Donatell has done excellent work with Kyle Fuller, Eddie Jackson, Bryce Callahan and the rest of the Bears’ secondary but it was a good bet he would leave once Fangio got the gig in Denver. Pagano is going to have some work to do, however, as much of the defensive coaching staff is going to be turned over.
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Defensive line coach Jay Rodgers will return, which is a positive. The work he’s done up front with Eddie Goldman, Akiem Hicks and Bilal Nichols has been impressive. However, with Donatell’s departure, OLB coach Brandon Staley also went to Denver with Fangio. Meanwhile ILB coach Glen Pires and S coach Roy Anderson were told they wouldn’t be returning to Chicago.
Talent matters. The Bears’ defense has a lot of it, so even with a significant turnover of coaches, the Bears’ defense should still be right at the top of the league. Donatell leaving isn’t a surprise, but until the coaching staff has been filled properly, there will still be some uncertainty at Halas Hall. Pagano has plenty of positions he needs filled so he better get to work.