Lions poised to lose another key assistant coach to the Bears.
The raiding of the Detroit Lions coaching staff looks like it is going to continue.
According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday evening, the Chicago Bears are set to hire Antwaan Randle El to be their new assistant head coach and wide receivers coach.
He will be one of the first significant hires by new head coach Ben Johnson, who was just hired by the Bears after serving as the Lions offensive coordinator.
Randle El served as the Lions wide receiver coach the past three seasons, after working as an offensive assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2019 and 2020 campaigns.
Getting “assistant head coach” title is a pretty significant step forward for him.
Johnson was one of the most sought-after head-coaching candidates in recent memory given the work he did in building a powerhouse offense around Jared Goff in Detroit. Now he and Randle El are going to have an opportunity to build something around Caleb Williams in Chicago, and Johnson is clearly looking to stick with people who share his vision and that he is familiar with.
As for the Lions, it is another significant departure for Dan Campbell’s coaching staff as it has been completely gutted this offseason.
Along with losing Johnson and Randle El to a divisional rival in Chicago, they also lost defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn after he was hired as the new head coach of the New York Jets.
That is one of the drawbacks that comes with becoming a top-tier team and contender in the NFL — everybody is going to want the coaches who helped get you there.
As long as Campbell is still in Detroit running the show and building the culture, and as long as the roster remains strong, the Lions’ window for contention should still be wide-open for the foreseeable future. But they are going to have some big work to do this offseason when it comes to rebuilding the coaching staff.
