Former Bear Isaiah Ford reunites with offensive guru Ben Johnson, bringing his NFL receiver experience to Chicago's coaching ranks.
The Chicago Bears will have new coaches on Ben Johnson's staff in 2026.
Chicago lost running backs coach Eric Bieniemy and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. Bieniemy is back for another stint at the Kansas City Chiefs as OC, while Doyle joined the Baltimore Ravens in the same role.
However, Doyle will be able to call plays in Baltimore, unlike in Chicago.
There will be some familiar faces sticking around as well. Defensive backs coach Al Harris was linked to a couple of defensive coordinator openings with the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, but has opted to stay in Chicago.
The Bears have filled most of their openings as of Wednesday. Eric Studesville will be the running backs coach, with former passing game coordinator Press Taylor getting promoted to OC and Will Lawing being an offensive analyst.
There was another hire that already has a connection to Johnson. Chicago is also bringing on Isaiah Ford as an offensive quality control coach, via ESPN's Courtney Cronin.
Ford isn't the only one on Chicago's staff that Johnson knows. Lawing and Johnson played college football together at North Carolina. Then Johnson and Studesville were both assistants with the Dolphins.
Ford played wide receiver in the NFL from 2017-2023.
During his NFL career, he played for the Miami Dolphins (2017-20, 2020-21), New England Patriots (2020), New York Giants (2022), Indianapolis Colts (2022) and Bears (2023). He finished his NFL career with 681 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
He was even coached by Johnson, who was the receivers coach in Miami in 2018.
Ford was drafted in the seventh round by the Dolphins in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech. His NFL career got off to a rough start, as he suffered a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve.
Then, in September of 2018, he was waived and put on the practice squad. He would be elevated to the active roster in November of that year.
He had a second stint on the Dolphins' practice squad in 2019. Ford was elevated to the active roster not too long after, but was waived again and sent to the practice squad one more time that season before making the roster once more.
He then re-signed with Miami in 2020, but was later traded to the Patriots for a seventh-round pick. New England didn't keep him very long before waiving him, and he was picked up by the Dolphins again.
In 2021, Ford re-signed with the Dolphins and spent one more season there before leaving the team for a second time.
He spent the 2022 season with the Giants and the Colts before joining the Bears in 2023. He suffered an injury and was placed on the IR in August of 2023, before being released in September.
Ford is the second assistant who is familiar with Johnson as the Bears continue to fill out their coaching staff.