Bears reportedly to hire new linebackers coach Ricard Smith |
Ben Johnson continues to make coaching hires as he rounds out his first-career staff. Today, it's all about the defensive side of the ball, as Richard Smith has been named the new linebacker coach for the Chicago Bears. With the offensive coaching fully complete, the only remaining openings are on the defensive side, which Johnson will look to address this week.
Adding Smith addresses one of those needs, and he will also be tasked with coaching one of the more talented groups on the defense, the linebacker group. What makes this hire is that Richard is the father of former Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith, who coached that unit from 2022 to 24. Johnson didn't retain Travis this season, so his dad will be coming to the Windy City and looking to push the Bears linebackers over the top. When discussing this Bears coaching staff, we have discussed the connection factor a lot. Smith has a previous connection to Dennis Allen, as the two of them worked together in Denver during the 2011 season. Now back with Allen for the first time in more than a decade, he will lead the group headlined by T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds. At 69 years old, Smith is not what you would call a young coach. He has nearly 40 years of experience—thirty-seven years, to be exact. However you slice it, he has a ton of coaching experience, which is hard to ignore. While most of his coaching days have come in the NFL, he does have some previous college coaching experience, which goes a long way in today's game. After starting in coaching with Rio Hondo, Smith bounced around the college world, making stops at Cal State Fullerton, California, and Arizona State before starting in the NFL with the then-Houston Oilers. That came back in 1988 when he would spend the next five years serving many different roles on the offensive side of the ball. Following his time with Houston, Smith decided to try elsewhere, heading to the Mile High City to join the Denver Broncos. Over the next four seasons, Smith worked as the assistant linebackers coach and Special Teams coordinator, continuing to diversify his role on the sidelines. After his stop in Denver, Smith spent time with San Francisco, Detroit, Miami, Carolina, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Indianapolis, where he mostly worked as a linebackers coach. You will notice that Smith also spent several years as a defensive coordinator, owning that role in 2005 with the Dolphins, Texans, and Falcons. Even if those defenses weren't always at the top when it came to statistics, having six years of defensive play-calling experience can go a long way, which Smith certainly has. Even if defensive play-calling isn't his specialty, his work with linebackers has always stood out, and that is what the Bears organization is counting on again from him. His success has come from having talented players around him, and the Bears are doing well this season. Not only are Edwards and Edmunds two of the better linebackers in the game, but Jack Sanborn is no slouch as he has continued to improve from his rookie season to his second year. Their overall success is pivotal for this defense to get back to being the Monsters of the Midway. They haven't been able to play at the level they did when Matt Eberflus took over. Hopefully, Smith and the other coaches assembled on this side of the ball can help this team turn the corner. They will need a strong defense to contend with the rest of the NFC.
