GREEN BAY, Delete. – Mike Pettine didn’t have to go far to find his next job. The Chicago Bears hired the former Green Bay Packers defense coordinator as a senior defense assistant on Wednesday.
Pettine has led the Packers’ defense for the past three years but was not detained after letting his contract expire after the 2020 season.
The Packers were ninth in total defense under Pettine last season, but a defensive slump at the end of the first half in the NFC Championship Game over what Coach Matt LaFleur called “a flat miscommunication” between him and Pettine about what the decision should be. on Tom Brady’s 39-yard touchdown pass with a second to go in the second quarter, eventually led to LaFleur’s decision to move away from Pettine.
The Packers hired Joe Barry to replace Pettine.
Pettine, 54, never signed a contract extension offered to him after last season, meaning he was in the last year of his deal, a source told ESPN after the season, making it a tidier split. Most dispatchers and position coaches always have two years off the Packers, but Pettine chose to enter the last year of his contract and see how things turn out.
The Chicago Tribune reported last week that Bears coach Matt Nagy was leaning towards hiring a senior defensive assistant to help out new coordinator Sean Desai. In Pettine, the Bears will not only have an experienced defensive coordinator, but also a former head coach (Pettine coached the Browns in 2014-15).
The Bears promoted Desai, who had been their safety coach, to replace Chuck Pagano, who retired after the season.
The Bears also promoted Mike Snyder from offensive quality control coach to offensive quality control / assistant quarterbacks coach on Wednesday and moved Henry Burris from Bill Walsh Coaching Fellow to offensive quality control coach.