Duce Staley, the well-respected assistant whom the Bears were expected to pursue once the Eagles let him out of his contract, is instead heading to a different NFC North team.
Staley has an agreement to join the Lions as their associate head coach and running backs coach, a source confirmed Monday morning. He’ll work for new head coach Dan Campbell, whom the Lions hired last week.
Campbell has a six-year deal, while Bears coach Matt Nagy is facing a must-win season.
The Bears, who lost running backs coach Charles London to the Falcons last week. were interested in adding Staley, who has a history with Nagy and his playbook. They both served as Eagles assistants early last decade. Former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson’s playbook was considered the most similar to Nagy’s of any in the league.
The Bears hired defensive coordinator Sean Desai on Friday but otherwise haven’t chosen new position coaches for Nagy’s staff. They’ve lost London and pass game coordinator Dave Ragone to the Falcons and defensive line coach Jay Rodgers to the Chargers.
