Bears News: Sean Desai Hired as New DC After Chuck Pagano's Retirement

The Chicago Bears named safeties coach Sean Desai as their new defensive coordinator, the team announced on Friday. 

Former defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano retired following the 2020 season after 18 years in the NFL and two with Chicago.

Desai is an internal hire for the Bears. The 37-year-old started with the organization in 2013 as a quality control assistant. He spent six seasons in that role before being promoted to safeties coach in 2019. 

Prior to joining the Bears staff, Desai worked at the college level for seven years. He began his coaching career in 2006 at Temple, where he would earn a doctorate two years later. The Connecticut native worked as a defensive and special teams coach with the Owls for five seasons. 

Desai spent one year at both Miami as the assistant director of football operations and Boston College as a running backs coach and special teams coordinator. 

Under Pagano, Chicago ranked fourth in the league in points allowed (18.6) and eighth in yards (324.1) in 2019, and it was 13th in points (23.0) and 11th in yards (347.3) this season. 

Desai will be inheriting one of the better defensive units in the NFL. He will work alongside head coach Matt Nagy to help the Bears get back to the playoffs in 2021. They were eliminated from the postseason with a 21-9 loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Wild Card Round.