Bears hire Chris Rumph as defensive line coach as DC Sean Desai fills out staff

New Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai has several vacancies to fill amid the turnover from Chuck Pagano to him, and he finalized a key hire Thursday.

As the Texans undergo a coaching staff overhaul with the hire of David Culley, the Bears scooped up linebackers coach Chris Rumph to join them as defensive line coach. Rumph fills a void left by longtime assistant Jay Rodgers, who left for the Chargers after not getting the defensive coordinator job.

Rumph coached various positions in major college football, and last season was his first in the NFL. He spent the previous two seasons as co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at University of Tennessee and also coached the defensive line at Florida, Texas, Alabama and Clemson.

Rumph was an outstanding linebacker for South Carolina in the 1990s.

After Desai’s promotion, the Bears were down to just one returning defensive position coach: secondary coach Deshea Townsend. Desai still needs an inside linebackers coach to replace Mark DeLeone, an outside linebackers coach (or defensive ends coach if he shifts the Bears to a 4-3 defense) to replace Ted Monachino and a safeties coach to replace himself.

Rodgers set the bar high on the defensive line after overseeing the development of Bilal Nichols, Eddie Goldman and former Bear Nick Williams, as well as helping Akiem Hicks break through as a star.

Rumph inherits a strong group on the defensive line, assuming the Bears keep Hicks. Nichols is coming off the best season of his career, and Goldman was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2019 before opting out of the 2020 season because of concerns about the coronavirus.