Bears' coordinators unchanged, Fox says

At Wednesday's season-ending news conference, coach John Fox said offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio remain on his staff and that running backs coach Stan Drayton had left for Texas.

Fox did not mention offensive line coach Dave Magazu and assistant defensive backs coach Sam Garnes, though both have reportedly been fired.

"I can tell you that our coordinators are intact," Fox said. "We're in that process, guys are under contract. Right now, that's all I've got for you.

"It was publicized Stan Drayton got an outstanding opportunity. His goal in life was to be a head coach in college, and it was a great opportunity for him."

Drayton will be the associate head coach and running backs coach under Longhorns new head coach Tom Herman.

"Those kinds of things happen when you have good coaches," Fox said. "But we're excited for Stan in that new opportunity."

There was a rumored rift between Fox and Fangio during the season, and also speculation that a consultant would be brought in to oversee the football operation. Bears G.M. Ryan Pace said that comes with the territory in a 3-13 season.

"There were rumors of that (Fox-Fangio split)," Pace said. "There were rumors of consultants. Hey, when we win three games, rumors come. That's part of it, and until we start winning more games around here, those rumors will not go away.

"If you're tight internally, which we are, sometimes those things make you tighter. You just let it roll off your back. I think the mistake is to get consumed by it or caught up in it. I take a lot of pride in having the self discipline to block that out and do your job."

Decisions, decisions:

Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who could become an unrestricted free agent in March, caught 52 passes for 821 yards and 2 touchdowns, while missing four games due to a PED suspension.

That's a far cry from his 2013 Pro Bowl season, when Jeffery caught 89 passes for 1,421 yards and 7 touchdowns. The Bears must decide to sign him to a long-term deal, probably in the neighborhood of $12 million a year, let him walk or slap the franchise tag on him again (roughly $17.518 million) for one more year.

"I think Alshon expects more," G.M. Ryan Pace said. "I think he's a good player. And that's a big decision for us."

Play-makers wanted:

The Bears' franchise-low 11 takeaways this season did not go unnoticed by Pace.

"Obviously that's a major issue," Pace said. "I looked back at where (defensive coordinator) Vic Fangio's been. Wherever he's been, he's ranked very high in takeaways. That's his track record.

"I honestly think we need to add more play-makers to our secondary. We need to add more ball skills to our secondary. That's on me, and we'll do that."

• Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere.