Vic Fangio is returning to the Chicago Bears as defensive coordinator after being passed up for their head coaching job.
Fangio re-signed Friday and will continue to lead a defense he helped transform the past three seasons. He was the first candidate to interview for the Bears’ coaching job after John Fox was fired Zack Martin Cowboys Jersey , but general manager Ryan Pace ultimately decided to go with former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
Fangio was free to go elsewhere after his contract expired. Before he arrived in Chicago, the Bears’ defense ranked among the worst in franchise history. They were more than respectable in 2017 under Fangio despite losing several players to injuries, including linebacker Leonard Floyd.
Chicago’s defense ranked 10th overall, seventh against the pass, ninth in scoring and 11th against the run.
With Fangio back, the Bears have filled all three coordinator spots.
The team announced Friday that it has hired former Oregon coach Mark Helfrich as offensive coordinator and Chris Tabor as special teams coordinator. The Bears also brought in Charles London to coach running backs and Mike Furrey as wide receivers coach.
Helfrich led Oregon to a 37-16 record in four seasons. That included a run to the first College Football Playoff championship game during the 2014 season with Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota at quarterback. He was fired after a 4-8 finish in 2016.
Before becoming the Ducks’ coach, Helfrich was their quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator from 2009-12 under Chip Kelly. With their fast-paced and prolific spread-option offense, the Ducks went 46-7 during that span.
Helfrich didn’t call plays as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and he won’t in Chicago. Nagy plans to do that.
The Bears are looking to get the most out of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and emerge from one of the worst runs in franchise history.
They fired Fox after three seasons with a 14-34 record that gave him the second-worst winning percentage for a Chicago coach. Nagy spent the past decade working under Andy Reid in Philadelphia and Kansas City and served as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator this past season.
He is trying to help turn around a team that missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season and hasn’t finished above .500 since Lovie Smith was fired after going 10-6 in 2012. The Bears were 5-11 in 2017.
The development of Trubisky, the No. 2 overall draft pick last spring, could go a long way toward lifting an offense that ranked 30th overall and last in passing. But the Bears will need to acquire some playmaking receivers.
Tabor spent the past seven seasons as Cleveland’s special teams coordinator. The Browns ranked sixth in kickoff return average against (21.8) Cole Beasley Jersey Elite , seventh in the NFL in punt return average (9.9), ninth in total kick return yards (8,974) and 10th in total return yards allowed (7,627) during that time. Tabor was Chicago’s assistant special teams coach from 2008-2010.
London has spent nine seasons in the NFL – the past four as Houston’s running backs coach. He was an offensive assistant with the Bears from 2007-09.
Furrey played eight seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins. With Detroit in 2006, he ranked second in the league with 98 receptions while recording 1,086 yards and six touchdowns.
Furrey spent the past two years coaching at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C.
—
San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said Tuesday that the Sharks have had to work for everything they have accomplished this season. After an inconsistent start, the club reached 100 points for the first time since 2014.
However Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey , through three playoff games, they have barely broken a sweat.
The Sharks look to complete a four-game sweep of the Anaheim Ducks in their first-round Western Conference series on Wednesday night at SAP Center in San Jose.
After taking the first two games in Southern California, San Jose scored four power-play goals and rolled to an 8-1 rout in Game 3 on Monday night at the Shark Tank.
San Jose has outscored Anaheim, 14-3, and is 6 for 17 with the man advantage in the series.
“One night it’s (Logan) Couture’s line. One night it’s (Joe) Pavelski’s line. One night it’s somebody else,” DeBoer said. “I think our group has played well the entire three games, just different lines have stuck pucks in the net at different times.”
Couture and Pavelski are tied for the team lead with five points apiece, while Evander Kane has a club-best three goals. Seven Sharks each have a minimum of three points in the series.
“You want to finish it at home in front of your fans, especially against a rival,” Couture said. “We know it’s going to be loud. We know they’re going to be energized.”
With the benefit of all four lines rolling Cheap Joe Namath Jersey , Martin Jones has been nearly flawless in net. The 28-year-old set a franchise postseason record for most saves in a regulation contest with 45 in Game 3 and has stopped 98 of 101 shots in the series.
“It’s not just the saves, it’s the timing of the saves,” DeBoer explained. “When you make saves at key times or the right times of the game, you just have that confidence as a group to try and make some more plays or take a chance here or there.”
Jones is one playoff win short of becoming the second player in team history with 20 victories, joining Evgeni Nabokov (40 postseason wins between 2000 and 2010.)
With their backs to the wall, the Ducks would appear to have no option but to come out flying in Game 4. Or do they?
“We have to take a singular approach, and focus on the first shift, first period,” coach Randy Carlyle said Tuesday.
A key to staying focused would be forgetting how Anaheim has gotten to this point — especially after a game in which it set a club record for most goals allowed in a playoff game.
“You can’t think about that game anymore,” defenseman Hampus Lindholm told the Ducks’ official website. “That’s in the past now. We just have to go out there for the fourth game. It’s going to be a do-or-die game for us. We’re going to compete as hard as we can.”
Lindholm is one of three goal-scorers in the series Tony Romo Jersey Elite , along with Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg. Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim’s all-time playoff scoring leader with 120 points, has just two assists.
“We’ve got to create more chances and score more goals. And tighten up defensively,” defenseman Francois Beauchemin told the Los Angeles Times.
John Gibson has a 4.17 goals-against average and .882 save percentage in the series. While it’s almost a certainty that he’ll get the nod once more, backup Ryan Miller is 7-2-1 with a tie and a 1.78 GAA and .948 save percentage in his career in San Jose.
Game 5, if necessary, is set for Friday night in Anaheim.
.
