GREEN BAY, Wis. — Mike Pettine did not have far to go to find his next job. The Chicago Bears hired the former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator as a senior defensive assistant Wednesday.
Pettine spent the past three years running the Packers’ defense but was not retained after he let his contract expire following the 2020 season.
The Packers ranked ninth in total defense last season under Pettine, but a defensive breakdown at the end of the first half in the NFC Championship Game on what coach Matt LaFleur called “a flat-out miscommunication” between him and Pettine on what the call should have been on Tom Brady‘s 39-yard touchdown pass with one second left in the second quarter ultimately led to LaFleur’s decision to move on.
The Packers hired Joe Barry to replace Pettine.
Pettine, 54, never signed a contract extension that was offered to him after last season, meaning he was in the final year of his deal, a source told ESPN after the season, making it a cleaner split. Most coordinators and position coaches always have two years on their deals with the Packers, but Pettine chose to go into the last year of his contract and see how things played out.
The Chicago Tribune reported last week that Bears coach Matt Nagy was leaning toward hiring a senior defensive assistant to aid new coordinator Sean Desai. In Pettine, the Bears not only will have an experienced defensive coordinator but also a former head coach (Pettine coached the Browns in 2014-15).
The Bears promoted Desai, who had been their safeties coach, to replace Chuck Pagano, who retired after the season.
The Bears on Wednesday also promoted Mike Snyder from offensive quality control coach to offensive quality control/assistant quarterbacks coach and moved Henry Burris from Bill Walsh Coaching Fellow to offensive quality control coach.