Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos Name New Head Coaches

Nearly one-third of NFL teams are currently without a head coach, but Thursday morning the first vacancies were filled when both the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos named their new hires. Both teams missed the playoffs this season and are hoping that a personnel change will help them return to past glory. Both the Broncos and Bears have done well historically, and the two franchises have four Super Bowl Championships between them.

Here are the men who were hired to lead these prestigious franchises:

Denver Broncos

The Broncos made the first official hire, naming Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as the team's 18th head coach according to CBS Sports. Hackett is replacing Vic Fangio after three seasons in Denver and it shows a clear change in philosophy, bringing in the offensive-minded 42-year-old to replace the defensive-minded Fangio. The Broncos finished last in the AFC West, and will need more than just a new coach to right the ship. Broncos GM George Paton will also be looking to improve at quarterback, but with the signing of Green Bay's former offensive coordinator, the team is already being linked to Aaron Rodgers, so that's a good thing.

Chicago Bears

The Bears made the second hire of the day, going in the opposite direction of the Broncos by announcing that Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus will be replacing Matt Nagy as the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Nagy went 34-31 in four seasons with the Bears, but they haven't have a winning record since 2018. This will be Eberflus' first head coaching job, and his defensive expertise makes him a curious hire as the Bears already have a strong defence as Josh Alper of NBC Sports points out:

Defence has generally been the stronger side of the ball in Chicago in recent years, so Eberflus’ offensive coordinator choice is sure to draw a lot of interest as that coach will be charged with helping to develop 2021 first-round quarterback Justin Fields in hopes of building the kind of offence that can push the team beyond the performance they attained under Eberflus’ predecessor Matt Nagy.

Stay tuned for more coaching hires which are sure to come fast over the next several days.