The hunt for the Chicago Bears’ new defensive coordinator is over. Not only that, the team did not have to look far to replace Chuck Pagano. Instead, the Chicago Bears promoted from within. The promotion did not involve a coach who has prior defensive coordinator experience either. This will be the first time that Sean Desai will be calling plays for any team within the NFL and Bears fans should be excited.
If you are unfamiliar with Desai, do not feel bad. Not many fans were familiar with him prior to this promotion. What is interesting about Desai is that he is actually a doctor. That’s right, Desai has a doctorate in educational administration. Desai started working with his college (Temple) football team by helping on special teams as a graduate assistant. Before joining the Chicago Bears in 2013, Desai spent time as Boston College’s running backs and special teams coordinator.
While with the Chicago Bears, Desai has worked his way up the ranks by assisting and learning from the best. According to former Bears linebacker Sam Acho, Sean Desai has been ready for this role. Acho even talked Sean Desai up prior to the decision to promote him.
The Bears don’t have to look far for their next DC. Sean Desai has been ready for that role for years. He was Vic Fangio’s right hand man for 4 years, & helped craft that defense to greatness. Smart, talented, knows ball and has all the credentials. All he needs is an opportunity
— Sam Acho (@TheSamAcho) January 18, 2021
Acho even compared him to now Chargers head coach Brandon Staley. Staley is one of the young defensive minds that many teams coveted as his Rams were number one in yards allowed and number one in points allowed per game. According to Acho, Sean Desai was Vic Fangio’s protege and helped develop the schemes that the 2018 team ran before Chuck Pagano came into town. This is great news as Fangio is a master of disguising coverages.
Many of the players have pulled for Sean Desai. He is now the first person of Indian descent to be a coordinator in the NFL too. None of this though is why Chicago Bears fans should be excited about this move.
The Chicago Bears and Matt Nagy show growth by promoting Sean Desai
There are two reasons I love this move for the Chicago Bears and have a little hope that Matt Nagy is growing as a head coach. First, I am excited by the fact they promoted from within. The team recognized that they had internal talent and did not let Sean Desai go. Jay Rodgers was my first choice, but I think I overlooked the importance of Desai to this defense.
Second and most importantly, I am glad to see Matt Nagy chose to not just kick the tires on a prior defensive coordinator like James Bettcher or George Edwards because that seems to be what teams do more often than not with defensive coordinators. Teams always look to hire the young offensive gurus as offensive coordinators, but it hardly seems to be the other way around. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as Nagy has been hands-off on defense.
Sean Desai is a young bright mind who I think will be able to turn this defense back into the top-five unit we know it to be.