Bears promote Loggains to offensive coordinator

Dowell Loggains becomes the sixth offensive coordinator that Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has worked with since joining the team in 2009.

Loggains was selected Monday to succeed Adam Gase, who was named the Miami Dolphins' head coach Saturday after one season as the Bears' offensive coordinator.

The promotion of Loggains creates as smooth a transition as possible. As the Bears' quarterbacks coach last season, Loggains was instrumental in helping Cutler produce the best season of his 10-year career.

"Dowell played a critical role on our offense last year," Bears head coach John Fox said. "He's an excellent coach with experience as a playcaller and a broad knowledge of offensive football. He has earned the respect of our players because they know he can help them get better."

The 35-year-old Loggains was the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator in 2013 after taking over that position for the final five games of 2012. He was the Cleveland Browns' quarterbacks coach in 2014 before joining the Bears a year ago.

Despite the Bears' epidemic of injuries at wide receiver and tight end in 2015, Cutler posted a career-best 92.3 passer rating. His 64.4 completion percentage, 2.3 interception percentage and 7.58 yards per passing attempt all were the second-best marks of his career.

The offense under Loggains is not expected to change much from last year's.

"As I mentioned at the end of the season, our systems are in place," Fox said after promoting Loggains. "We will always look to evolve because the NFL is fluid, and adapting is key to good coaching. Dowell will help us build on what we started as we head into the 2016 season."

Loggains was a high school quarterback in Abilene, Texas, and he has eight years of NFL coaching experience, beginning with the Tennessee Titans in 2008 as a quality-control coach. From 2010-12, he was Titans quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

"He's a sharp coach," Fox said. "He understands the game. He's been around a lot of really good people, people that I know and respect. He's got a great personality. He gets along with people. He has good people skills. He's funny."

A large portion of Cutler's success in 2015 came from improved ball security. He cut his interceptions from 18 to 11 and his lost fumbles from 8 to 5. Loggains gets part of the credit for that.

"He's done a tremendous job," Fox said in the final week of the regular season. "Dowell is with Jay every day in meetings, game-planning and (working on) fundamentals. Some of the pocket-presence things that we talk about, Dowell has had a lot to do with."

Cutler, who clashed with most of his Bears offensive coordinators before Gase, already has developed a strong rapport with Loggains.

"He's extremely talented, bright, has a lot of energy as well and has been around quarterbacks for a long time," Cutler said of Loggains, who is just three years older than the Bears' quarterback. "He's been around really good coaches his entire career. He's a sponge. He took all the good stuff from all the coaches.

"I'm not saying that he doesn't make his mistakes because we all do. But he's done a really good job of managing our room, from the three (quarterbacks) to me, and he works well with the rest of the coaches developing the (game)plan.

"I think Adam would testify to it that (Loggains) has been a large help to me and him both."

• Check back later for Bob LeGere 's take on the Bears' decision. For more on the Bears and the NFL, visit chicagofootball.com.