Staying in-house: Desai to lead defense

Safeties coach gets promotion to coordinator

With the Bears trying to get back to the high level of defense they played in 2018, the team on Friday turned to the one assistant who probably knows that scheme best — safeties coach Sean Desai.

Coach Matt Nagy promoted Desai to defensive coordinator, elevating him as the replacement for Chuck Pagano, who retired following the team’s wild-card loss to the New Orleans Saints.

“We are very fortunate and excited to promote from within and announce Sean Desai has been named defensive coordinator for our football team,” Nagy said in a statement. “He is a person of high football intelligence, extremely detailoriented, has a very strong work ethic, and I cannot think of someone more deserving to lead our defense.

“Sean is a family man of high character, and the respect he has within our building from coaches, players and staff is unparalleled.”

Desai is the longest-tenured assistant at Halas Hall, originally coming to the team in 2013 as a quality-control coach on Marc Trestman’s staff. He remained in the role for an unusually long stretch — through the 2018 season — before being named the safeties coach in 2019.

Desai was particularly valuable to former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who tried to hire him after becoming the Denver Broncos coach in 2019, but the Bears blocked the move.

Nagy interviewed former Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants defensive coordinator James Bettcher and Indianapolis Colts defensive backs coach Jonathan Gannon, and the team requested an interview with Dallas Cowboys senior defensive assistant George EdwardsThe Bears slumped defensively in the second half of the season but are able to maintain some stability with Desai now running the show.

That’s significant considering the NFL’s offseason program could be mostly virtual again because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reduced time on the practice field would make learning a new scheme and terminology challenging.