Another massive NFL head coach hire has occurred and could negatively affect the Chicago Bears' coaching staff in 2026.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have hired Mike McCarthy to be their new head coach after taking a year off from coaching. McCarthy coached the Green Bay Packers for over a decade before coaching the Dallas Cowboys most recently for five years. He has gone a combined 174-112-2 in that span and won a Super Bowl with the Packers.
McCarthy will be hard at work building his new coaching staff with the Steelers. There's one name that seems to be a popular name to join his coaching staff, who is currently with the Bears.
Mike McCarthy could be targeting Al Harris for the Steelers' defensive coordinator job
Bears defensive backs coach Al Harris has been a highly sought-after candidate for defensive coordinator jobs throughout the NFL. Harris has already interviewed with three teams: the Packers, the Washington Commanders, and the Tennessee Titans.
While nothing is official, Harris would be perfect to join McCarthy's staff as the defensive coordinator. Harris played under McCarthy when he was the head coach in Green Bay. During McCarthy's time in Dallas, Harris served as the defensive backs coach from 2020 through 2023, then added assistant head coach in 2024.
Harris just finished his first season with the Bears, where he did great work with the secondary despite a lot of issues he faced. His top cornerbacks, Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, both missed most of the season due to injuries and had to use Nahshon Wright and C.J. Gardner-Johnson as replacements. Wright ended up leading the NFL in turnovers created, and Gardner-Johnson played well in the slot despite having been a safety his whole career.
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It would be surprising not to see Harris get an interview and a spot on McCarthy's staff, as it seems inevitable that the Bears will lose one of their top defensive assistants.