Post by Deleted on May 5, 2018 14:12:45 GMT -6
Breaking down what Mike Furrey can bring to Bears staff
Mike Furrey is an important hire for the Chicago Bears in 2018.
Matt Eurich - 3 hours ago
247sports.com/nfl/chicago-bears/Bolt/Breaking-down-what-Mike-Furrey-can-bring-to-Bears-staff-117994590?
(Photo: Ronald Martinez, Getty)
When Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy started forming his new coaching staff after he was hired in early 2018, he started receiving a lot of praise for the staff he was building. It made sense since he brought back defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and hired former Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich to run the offense and added one of the best offensive line coaches in all of football in Notre Dame's Harry Hiestand.
As important as those three hires are for the organization, the hiring of Mike Furrey as the team's wide receiver coach could end up being one of the most important during the early stages of Nagy's run with the Bears. With Furrey, Nagy has someone on his staff who has played in the NFL at a high level, on two different sides of the ball, who can help mold a young group of wideouts in Chicago.
After going undrafted out of Northern Iowa in 2000, Furrey had stints with the Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Outlaws and New York Dragons before returning to the NFL with the St. Louis Rams in 2003. That season he appeared in 13 games and caught 20 passes for 189 yards. In 2004 he caught just one pass for eight yards in eight games before the team decided to move him to free safety in 2005. He saw action in all 16 games with 11 starts that season at the position, hauling in four interceptions and 41 tackles. Despite a solid season at a brand new position, Furrey was released by the Rams.
In 2006 he joined the Detroit Lions and led the NFC in receptions that season with 98 catches for 1,086 yards and six touchdowns. After three seasons with the Lions in which he caught 177 passes for 1,931 yards with seven touchdowns, he spent one year with the Cleveland Browns in 2009. That year he caught 23 passes for 170 yards before spendingthe 2010 offseason with the Washington Redskins before retiring from football.
Furrey jumped into the coaching game early after his NFL retirement, becoming the head coach at Kentucky Christian from 2010 until 2012 before coaching wide receivers at Marshall between 2013 and 2016. He then took over as the head coach at Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina. A relatively new program, Limestone won nine games in two seasons with Furrey before he made the jump to the NFL.
Interestingly enough, Furrey and Nagy were teammates on the New York Dragons in the AFL during the 2002 season.
For Furrey, he is going to be tasked with getting the most out of a relatively new wide receiver corps in Chicago. The team added Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Marlon Brown and Bennie Fowler in free agency and drafted Anthony Miller (second round) and Javon Wims (seventh round) in this year's draft. Additionally, the team has former first-round pick Kevin White on the roster.
Given the fact that the young coach has played at a high level in the NFL respect should already be there from the group. Because he also had success as a safety in the NFL, he can help give a different perspective to Chicago's wide receiver room. The jury is still out on how much of an impact Furrey can make as a first-year head coach, but he has already been tasked with molding one of the most important groups on the roster for the 2018 season, so he will be put under a microscope early.
Author/Matt Eurich @matteurich
