Bears retain majority of coaching staff

The Bears are guaranteed to have continuity in 2011, at least on the coaching staff — assuming there is a season.

All three coordinators remain under contract, and seven of the eight position coaches are expected to be back under coach Lovie Smith. Since the end of the 2010 season, three assistant coaches whose contracts had expired have re-signed. They are running backs coach Tim Spencer, linebackers coach Bob Babich and defensive backs coach Jon Hoke, who interviewed late last month with the Philadelphia Eagles for their defensive coordinator position.

The Bears lost assistant special-teams coach Chris Tabor, who joined new head coach Pat Shurmur’s Cleveland Browns staff as special-teams coordinator, and defensive line coach Eric Washington, who left to take the same position on new Carolina Panthers new head coach Ron Rivera’s staff.

Mike Phair replaced Washington. Tabor was replaced by Kevin O’Dea, who held the same position with the Bears in 2006 and ’07, when they finished No. 1 overall in special teams both years.

With only two departures, this would be the least amount of turnover on Smith’s staff from one season to the next since he was hired in 2004.

Follow Bob LeGere’s Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials, at DailyHerald.com