Bears News: Richard Hightower on Ben Johnson as a head coach: “He’s got it”

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - 10 hours ago

CHICAGO - Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower was the only coordinator to survive the transition from former head coach Matt Eberflus to the current head coach, Ben Johnson.

In the time he has spent with Johnson and the offensive and defensive coordinators, Hightower is excited about working with this group, specifically with Johnson.

“Phenomenal group to work with, honored and excited to be back. I think you guys are really going to like Coach Johnson. He’s awesome. He’s detailed. He’s on top of it. He’s a good one,” Hightower said. “I’ve been around a lot of good head coaches … I’ve been lucky to be around a lot of them. They’re still coaching. So, he’s got it. He’s got it.”

Hightower is also heavily involved in shaping the league’s kickoff rules. This past March, he attended the NFL’s owners meeting to discuss rule changes such as kickoffs and onside kicks. The NFL’s dynamic kickoff, implemented last year, has become permanent. However, touchbacks will now be moved to the 35-yard line to encourage returns.

The decision on changing the onside kick rule has been tabled until May.

“The kickoff rule went in and it’s permanent now. So, what you saw last year is permanent with a couple of modifications, one being the touchback going to the 35 yard line which is going to increase returns. It was at 32.4 (percent) last year. So, according to the league, what they think in their projections, it’ll be double that or more. So, you got a really good chance for returns now and not just a ceremonial play. Nobody wants that in the game at all. Another thing to note, we may adjust to the receiving team. So, one of the off-the-ball players can back up now. So, instead of being two guys, you can have three guys off the ball in the setup zone which will allow for a little bit more creativity with the returns and then two other things that were discussed, obviously it’s going to be tabled (until) May is the onside kick. That’ll be tabled (until) May,” Hightower said. “We just want to extract that from (the) initial proposal and try to get eyes on that and try to get that up just a hair and then, the last thing was provisions to the (kicking) ball. So, basically what that is at the end of the day is they’re (going) to do them ahead of time just like they do the quarterback balls. So, it’ll be a lot easier for the officials, a lot easier for the club, a lot easier overall. But, honored and excited to be a part of those discussions. We can hope to see a lot more returns which obviously, we’ve always taken into account.”

The change to the kickoff becoming permanent and changing where the ball gets placed following a touchback was a big deal for Hightower. He was one of the coaches who advocated changing the kickoff in the first place. This kickoff change was originally seen in the XFL, which is now part of the United Football League (UFL) for spring football. It had success in the XFL and in the NFL last season.

This change also makes the signing of Devin Duvernay even more important. Duvernay returned punts and kickoffs for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, as well as for the four seasons he spent with the Baltimore Ravens. Thus, he could become Chicago’s starting kickoff and/or punt returner next season. Among active players, he is tied for third in the league in kickoff returns. Thus, this permanent change to the kickoff rule could allow him to display that dynamic speed.