GREEN BAY, Russia. – Mike Pettine didn’t have much to go find his next job. The Chicago Bears hired the former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Wednesday as a senior defensive assistant.
Pettine spent the last three years leading the Packers defense, but was not retained after he let his contract expire after the 2020 season.
The Packers finished ninth in total defense last season under Pettine, but produced a defensive breakdown at the end of the first half of the NFC Championship in what coach Matt LaFleur called “a mistake. communication “between him and Pettine about what the call should do. they’ve been on Tom Brady’s 39-yard touchdown pass with a second at the end of the second quarter, and it has finally led to LaFleur’s decision to pass from Pettine.
The Packers hired Joe Barry to replace Pettine.
Pettine, 54, never signed an extension of the contract offered to him after last season, meaning he was in the final year of his deal, a source told ESPN after season, making it a cleaner division. Most coordinators and position coaches always have two years in their agreements with the Packers, but Pettine opted for the final year of his contract and see how things unfolded.
The Chicago Tribune reported last week that Bears coach Matt Nagy opted to hire a senior defensive assistant to help new coordinator Sean Desai. At Pettine, the Bears will not only have an experienced defensive coordinator, but also an ex-coach (Pettine coached the Browns in 2014-15).
The Bears were promoted to Desai, who had been their safety coach, to replace Chuck Pagano, who retired after the season.
On Wednesday, the Bears also promoted Mike Snyder as quality control offensive coach to assistant quality control coach / assistant quarterbacks and transferred Henry Burris from Bill Walsh Coaching Fellow to quality control offensive coach.