CHICAGO _ Bears coach Matt Nagy moved quickly Wednesday to fill a vacancy on his staff, hiring veteran coach Juan Castillo to oversee the offensive line.
Two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news, which was first reported by NFL Network and not announced by the Bears.
Castillo replaces Harry Hiestand, who was fired Tuesday along with three other assistant coaches. Nagy also dismissed offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride and assistant special teams coach Brock Olivo. Nagy made those changes after the Bears finished 29th in the NFL in scoring and total offense.
Castillo, 60, was the Eagles offensive line coach in 2008 when Nagy got his first NFL job as an Eagles coaching intern. Castillo served as the Eagles offensive line coach from 1998-2010, at which time he became their defensive coordinator for two seasons.
Between 2013-2018, Castillo held offensive line coach and running-game coordinator titles with the Ravens and Bills. The Bills fired him after the 2018 season, and he did not coach in the NFL this season.
It was not immediately clear whether Nagy would give Castillo the title of running-game coordinator or, perhaps, use that to make the offensive coordinator vacancy more attractive.
One challenge for Nagy in finding a coordinator is that he is the play-caller and lead offensive coach. Whoever takes the job will do so knowing their stamp on the offense will not include that coveted play-calling role.
Helfrich's duties included oversight of the running game, which ranked 29th in the NFL in yards per carry. Meanwhile, the Bears finished last in yards per pass and 31st in yards per play.
Hiestand also was heavily involved in coaching the running game by nature of his position group. General manager Ryan Pace views the offensive line's poor season in 2019 as central to the offense's regression.
In addition to the Bears' 3.7 yards-per-carry average, their sacks-to-pass-attempts ratio increased from 6.5% (10th in the NFL) in 2018 to 7.8% (21st).
"We know (offensive success) starts up front with those guys," Pace said Tuesday. "That's something we've really got to look at. From a personnel standpoint, we're going to look at it. From a schematic standpoint, we're going to look at it. That was real this year. That hurt us."
