Why Chicago Bears Shouldn’t Fear Coaching Brain Drain

They say imitation is the best form of flattery, and that the NFL is a “copycat” league. So naturally, when everyone saw the Chicago Bears look like they’re about to become a rising superpower, the league said, “Let me get the guys who made it happen.”

Now, Ian Cunningham is gone, hired away by the Atlanta Falcons to be their general manager after all the dutiful years as Ryan Poles’ assistant. 

Declan Doyle will now take over as Lamar Jackson’s offensive coordinator in Baltimore under new head coach Jesse Minter, who apparently wants a piece of whatever Ben Johnson just cooked up with Caleb Williams.

Eric Bieniemy got his old job back as offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs after one year of coaching D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai into arguably the NFL’s best running back duo.

Defensive backs coach Al Harris has had teams blowing up his phone for defensive coordinator interviews, though he’s so far stayed put in Chicago.

So it’s natural to wonder if the Bears will be affected by this brain drain within the organization just one year into the Bears’ ascension to the top of the NFC ranks. But former Bears Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long says fans needn’t be worried about the future of the coaching staff.

Why? Because the main man, Ben Johnson himself, is locked in for the foreseeable future.

“The best offensive mind in our building is our head coach,” Long told CHGO of his old squad. “Often times, we see, it’s just the cost of being boss. When you’re a good team, you lose coaches. You get attrition upstairs. That ain’t happening for our big brain. Our supercomputer is still there. And when they take the field week one 2026, it’s going to be the best version of the Ben Johnson Chicago Bears. And that’s exciting.”