Getty Khalil Mack #52 of the Chicago Bears stands on the field during training camp at Halas Hall on July 29, 2021 in Lake Forest, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bears are rounding out their new coaching staff, which will include a long-time acquaintance of edge rusher Khalil Mack’s from his days with Oakland.
The Bears on February 8 announced the hiring of Travis Smith as the team’s new defensive line coach. Smith has spent the entirety of his NFL career with the now Las Vegas Raiders, most recently as the assistant defensive line coach over the previous three seasons.
Ian Rapoport, of the NFL Network, broke the news on Twitter Tuesday.
“The #Bears are hiring DL coach Travis Smith, source said,” Rapoport tweeted. “He has spent the last several years with the #Raiders.”
New Bears Coach Smith and Pro-Bowl Pass Rusher Mack Have History
GettyLas Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (left) with Chicago Bears pass rusher Khalil Mack (right).
Smith was part of the Raiders’ staff two years before they drafted Mack and remained a defensive coach for the entirety of the pass rusher’s tenure with the team.
The Raiders hired Smith in 2012 as a defensive assistant, a position in which he remained for three seasons. The team then promoted him to defensive quality control coach. Smith served in that role for three of the next four years, with a one-season transition in 2017 to outside linebackers coach. Smith then became the assistant defensive line coach in 2019 and held that job through last season.
He is credited for helping develop pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who was the second-ranked edge rusher in all of the NFL last season with an overall grade of 91.7 and a pass rushing grade of 91.9, per Pro Football Focus.
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Smith and Mack spent four years at the beginning of the edge rusher’s career working together on the Raiders’ defensive side of the ball. Mack was selected to the Pro Bowl in three of those four seasons, and named an NFL All-Pro twice in 2015 and 2016.
Chicago Bears Have Nearly Finished Filling Out Coaching Staff
GettyNew Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is nearly finished assembling his new staff.
Smith is the most recent addition in a complete overhaul of the Bears coaching staff, from the top job on down.
The first hire of consequence was actually general manager Ryan Poles, who started his NFL playing career with the Bears in 2008 as an undrafted free agent. Poles joined the Bears in his new capacity as GM after an impressive run in the front office of the Kansas City Chiefs where he helped build the team into a perennial Super Bowl contender.
Soon after, Chicago landed on former Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as the next man to lead the team from the sideline as head coach. Eberflus replaced former Bears frontman Matt Nagy at the helm and quickly went about replacing his entire staff.
The Bears brought in former Green Bay Packers Packers quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Luke Getsy to run the offense, while Eberflus tapped former Colts safeties and defensive backs coach Alan Williams to lead the defense. Eberflus and Williams previously worked together in Indianapolis for four seasons. Then, on Sunday, Chicago hired Richard Hightower away from the San Francisco 49ers to serve as special teams coordinator.
A slew of position coaches have been hired in the days after and in between. As of Tuesday, the only job left open on the Bears’ staff was the position of running backs coach, per Alyssa Barbieri of USA Today.