Quickly after their playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the Chicago Bears are starting to feel the effects of team success. After reviving D'Andre Swift's career and fostering quick success for rookie Kyle Monangai this season, running backs coach Eric Bieniemy is headed back to the Kansas City Chiefs as offensive coordinator.
Bieniemy may not be the first departure from Ben Johnson's staff in the coming weeks, as new head coaches fill out their staffs and incumbent head coaches make changes in response to those moves.
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle could be in line for opportunities to call plays if he wants to take them. After the Bears led the NFL in takeaways during the regular season, defensive backs coach Al Harris is sure to get some interviews for open defensive coordinator jobs now that he's available to do so.
On that front, the Green Bay Packers have lost their defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley, to the Miami Dolphins' head coaching job. They have wasted no time starting their search for Hafley's replacement, with the first interview already scheduled.
Packers' defensive coordinator job seems tailor-made for Al Harris
Harris is not the first candidate scheduled to interview for the Packers' defensive coordinator post. But it's fair to assume he's on Matt LaFleur's list of candidates he'd like to talk to, and that interview request is sure to come soon. While fans won't like the "leaving for a division rival" element if it happens, much like Lions' fans will carry ire toward Johnson forever because he did it, Green Bay makes a lot of sense for Harris.
Harris spent 14 seasons (1998-2011) in the NFL as a cornerback, suiting up for four teams. The clear peak years of his career were his seven seasons with the Packers (2003-2009), during which he recorded 102 regular season starts, 14 interceptions, 87 pass breakups, two Pro Bowl nods, and a Second-Team All-Pro selection.
The Packers had the league's 11th-ranked pass defense, and they were similarly solid or very good in other yardage-allowed metrics through the air. But they sorely lacked impactful plays, with just seven interceptions and the sixth-fewest pass breakups in the league (59). Wherever Harris has gone as defensive backs coach lately, Dallas and now Chicago, a spike in ball-hawking plays has followed.
Read more: Ben Johnson could lose an assistant coach very soon after Bears' playoff loss
The Packers won't be the only team that will (or should) pursue Harris to be their defensive coordinator. But it might be the opportunity that stands above all others, if going back to where he spent the best years of his playing career matters to him.