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NFL rumors: Bears to hire Richard Smith as linebackers coach

2 weeks agoScott Bair

The Bears are hiring another veteran position coach, this one on the defensive side of the ball. Longtime NFL assistant coach Richard Smith will become the team’s linebackers coach, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs reported on Tuesday afternoon.

Smith has been coaching steadily in the NFL since 1998 and has been a linebackers coach for most of that time, save a few stops as a defensive coordinator.

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Smith is also father of Travis Smith, who was Bears defensive line coach from 2022-24. There won’t be any family overlap in Chicago, though, as Travis Smith was announced as the Tennessee Titans defensive run game coordinator on Tuesday.

Richard Smith was most recently in Indianapolis as Colts linebackers coach, and was with the Raiders and Chargers before that.

Smith will have a chance to work with primary off-the-ball linebackers T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds. That’s a solid three-down pairing, though Edmunds will be looking to rebound from a lackluster season by his high standards. Jack Sanborn’s a restricted free agent, though he might be someone brought back on a lower tender following a solid campaign as the strongside linebacker, who left the field in the sub packages.

Those positions are important in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s scheme, where the interior linebackers especially are active in coverage, run defense and as pass rushers.

Smith is yet another experienced coach to join Ben Johnson’s staff and someone who has experience calling and designing plays. This staff is full of them on both sides of the ball, and it will be interesting what these minds come up with as they tailor schemes to the talent available to them when the offseason program begins.

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