Mike Pettine was not unemployed for long.
The former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator was hired as a senior defense assistant for the Chicago Bears, rival to his previous team at NFC North.
Pettine served three years (2018-20) as a Packers defensive coordinator. His contract expired after the 2020 season and has not been renewed. The Packers recently announced Joe Barry as their replacement.
In Chicago, Pettine will work with Bears’ new defensive coordinator, Sean Desai, who was promoted from security technician to coordinator after Chuck Pagano’s retirement after the 2020 season.
Under Pettine last season, the Packers defense ranked ninth in allowed yards, 13 in allowed points and 25 in takeaways. They were 18th in yards, ninth in points and seventh in takeaways in 2019.
The Packers went 5-1 against the Bears during Pettine’s tenure as a defensive coordinator, including four consecutive wins between the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Pettine’s defense has yielded just 57 points for the Bears in the past two seasons, with nine takeaways in the four games.
The Bears defense yielded 76 points to the Packers division champion in two games in 2020.