While coach John Fox spent Sunday continuing to search for deputies, Bears general manager Ryan Pace found his.
The Bears on Sunday named Josh Lucas, a Harvard-educated former co-worker of Pace’s, their new director of player personnel.
Lucas will be Pace’s right-hand man, holding the same position with the Bears that Pace had in New Orleans before taking the GM job Jan 9.
Lucas spent the last 10 seasons with the Saints, scouting the South region for the last two seasons. He was the Southwest area scout from 2007-11 after joining the team as a scouting assistant in 2005.
Like Pace, Lucas started in the league as an intern. He interned with the Jaguars in their football operations department before spending two seasons as a marketing analyst for the team. He worked in the player personnel department during 2004 training camp.
The Canton, Ohio, native graduated Cum Laude from Harvard, where he played safety from 1997-98 before suffering a series of shoulder injuries.
He’ll be part of the Bears contingent heading to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., to watch top college prospects this week.
Lucas represents Pace’s first major front office addition since being named GM. He made his first change last week, firing pro personnel director Kevin Turks, who had spent the last 13 seasons with the Bears.
Fox, who will be formally introduced Monday at Halas Hall, continued his search for staff members Sunday. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio interviewed with the Redskins on Sunday, according to the Washington Post, one day after meeting with Fox about the Bears’ vacancy.
Fangio’s 49ers defense was ranked in the top five in each of his four seasons there, but he left after the team hired Jim Tomsula to be its head coach last week. Former Broncos defensive coordinator and Raiders head coach Dennis Allen has been linked to the job, too.
Adam Gase, Fox’s offensive coordinator the past two seasons in Denver, received permission to talk to the Bears about the same position, the NFL Network reported.
Email: pfinley@suntimes.com
Twitter: @patrickfinley
