Bears hire Colts safeties coach Alan Williams as defensive coordinator
The Bears hired former Indianapolis Colts safeties coach Alan Williams as their new defensive coordinator, the team announced Wednesday. Williams has worked under new Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, the former Colts defensive coordinator, since 2018.
In addition to Williams, Colts linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi will have the same role with the Bears, and Chris Morgan will be offensive line coach.
Williams, 52, came up as a defensive backs coach under Tony Dungy and Jim Caldwell in Indianapolis from 2002-11. Along the way, he helped the Colts win one Super Bowl and appear in another.
In 2012, he became the Minnesota Vikings' defensive coordinator under head coach Leslie Frazier. He remained in that position for two years until the Vikings fired Frazier and his staff following the 2013 season.
After the Vikings, Williams spent 2014-17 as the defensive backs/safeties coach under Caldwell with the Detroit Lions. The Lions cleaned house after the 2017 season and Williams made his way to Indianapolis to team up with Eberflus, the defensive coordinator, under Colts head coach Frank Reich.
"Alan has really good command of the whole picture," Reich said Tuesday. "Alan is fast on his feet as a thinker. Listening, being on the headset and hearing (Eberflus) call the defenses, interact with the defensive staff, hearing Alan's input, hearing the dialogue between he and Flus, how dynamic it was, how much Flus trusted him over those four years seeing that relationship develop - I just think Alan has great energy on the field. Watching Alan run drills on the field, he's got good energy, good body language, got a good positive vibe to him, can connect. So Alan's an excellent football coach."
During his introductory news conference Monday, Eberflus confirmed he planned to implement his 4-3 defensive scheme. That represents a shift from the Bears' 3-4 scheme under former defensive coordinators Vic Fangio, Chuck Pagano and Sean Desai.
Given that, it makes sense that Eberflus is bringing his assistants from Indianapolis, where the Colts ran his 4-3 scheme as well as any team in the NFL.
"We're going to adjust and move and be flexible," Eberflus said. "We're going to look at the talent and the skill level of the players we have and we're going to coach and develop those guys, and we'll fit our scheme around those players. But the foundational pieces won't change, in terms of how we play."
Williams should be integral to that switch. He will be the one calling plays for the defense.
"I do believe that to be the head football coach and be efficient at that, you are exactly the head football coach," Eberflus said. "So I can be involved in all aspects of the game."
Borgonzi served as Colts' linebackers coach since 2018 under Eberflus. Prior to Indianapolis, he was a defensive quality control coach in Tampa Bay from 2014-17. Borgonzi helped mentor All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard in Indianapolis. He will work directly with Bears' star linebacker Roquan Smith.
Morgan was previously the assistant offensive line coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers for one season. He had worked for the Atlanta Falcons as the offensive line coach from 2015-20 under head coach Dan Quinn. He added run game coordinator to his title in 2018.
Morgan had previous stints as an assistant offensive line coach in Oakland (2009-10), Washington (2011-13) and Seattle (2014).
The Bears now have two key coordinator positions filled. They previously hired former Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy to be offensive coordinator.