Bears hire 3 more assistant coaches, including Andrew Janocko as QBs coach

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus hired three more assistant coaches to his staff Thursday.

Andrew Janocko will be the quarterbacks coach, Tyke Tolbert is the new receivers coach and passing game coordinator, and David Overstreet II is the assistant defensive backs coach.

The news comes one day after the Bears hired Alan Williams as defensive coordinator, Mike Borgonzi as linebackers coach and Chris Morgan as offensive line coach.

[ Bears hire Chris Morgan as OL coach, Dave Borgonzi as LB coach ]

Andrew Janocko: Janocko, 33, will work on a daily basis with Bears quarterback Justin Fields. Janocko has 11 years of coaching experience, including the past seven with the Minnesota Vikings. He worked his way up in Minnesota from offensive quality control coach in 2015 to QBs coach last season. Along the way, he also at various times coached the offensive line and receivers.

Janocko worked closely in 2021 with Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who threw for 4,221 yards and 33 touchdowns, a year after coaching receiver Justin Jefferson to the first All-Pro rookie season by a receiver since Randy Moss in 1998.

Before the Vikings, Janocko coached with Rutgers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Division II Mercyhurst University. He played college football at Pittsburgh from 2007-10 under former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt. He was a backup quarterback and the holder on special teams.

New Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was a graduate assistant at Pitt during Janocko’s senior season.

Tyke Tolbert: Tolbert, 54, has 28 years of coaching experience, including 19 at the NFL level. He most recently served as the New York Giants receivers coach.

There might not be a more experienced NFL receivers coach than Tolbert. He has coached the position in the NFL since 2003. That includes stints in Arizona (2003), Buffalo (2004-09), Carolina (2010), Denver (2011-17) and with the Giants (2018-21). Before 2003, he coached receivers and tight ends at the college level.

Tolbert served on coach John Fox’s staff in Denver and was retained when the team replaced Fox with Gary Kubiak. He helped Denver win Super Bowl 50.

David Overstreet II: Overstreet spent the past four seasons as an assistant in Indianapolis, along with Eberflus, Williams and Borgonzi. He was a defensive quality control coach for three seasons (2018-20) before being promoted to assistant defensive backs coach in 2021. Prior to joining the Colts, Overstreet coached cornerbacks at Garden City Community College in Kansas and Holmes Community College in Mississippi.

Overstreet played safety at Missouri from 2002-06, where Eberflus was his defensive coordinator. He had a rookie minicamp tryout with the Bears in 2007 but did not earn a contract.

Overstreet’s father, David Overstreet, was a running back at Oklahoma and with the Miami Dolphins for one season in 1983 before he died in a car crash in 1984 at age 25. Overstreet II was only 13 months old at the time.