Packers players and staff from Illinois: WR Jayden Reed was born in Chicago and attended Naperville Central (Ill.) High School as a senior…DL Lukas Van Ness was born in Elgin, Ill., and attended Barrington (Ill.) High School…S Xavier McKinney was born in East St. Louis, Ill. …OL coach Luke Butkus was born in Steger, Ill., and attended Bloom Trail (Ill.) High School…Special teams quality control coach Cory Harkey was born in Chicago…Packers players and staff who played college football in Illinois: Butkus played at the University of Illinois from 1999-01…Senior personnel executive Lee Gissendaner played wide receiver at Northwestern from 1990-93…Assistant director of college scouting Patrick Moore played at Illinois Wesleyan…Packers coaches who have coached in Illinois: Butkus served as an offensive line coach at the University of Illinois in 2012 and from 2016-18…Strength and conditioning assistant Todd Hunt was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Illinois in 2018…Defensive line/run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington was on the coaching staff at Eastern Illinois in 2016…Packers staff with connections to Illinois: Vice president of player health and performance Bryan Engel is from Hanover Park, Ill., and attended the University of Illinois…Moore was the OL coach at Illinois Wesleyan in 1997…Coaching operations coordinator Joe McKillip worked in football operations and recruiting at Northern Illinois from 2011-12…Bears with connections to Wisconsin: LB T.J. Edwards played at Wisconsin from 2014-18…Assistant strength and conditioning coach Mark Philippi is from Menomonee Falls, Wis., where he attended Menomonee Falls High School…Former Bears: DL Jonathan Ford played for the Bears for a portion of the 2024 season and the 2025 season, appearing in 12 games…Butkus attended training camp with the Bears in 2002 and served as an offensive assistant/assistant OL coach from 2007- 09…TEs coach John Dunn was a football assistant for the Bears in 2016 and an offensive assistant for the team in 2017…Senior assistant Luke Getsy was the Bears’ offensive coordinator from 2022-23…Former Packers: DB Jonathan Owens played in all 17 games and both postseason contests for the Packers in 2023…Assistant DBs/safeties coach Matt Giordano played for the Packers in 2009…Pass game coordinator/DBs coach Al Harris played for the Packers from 2003-09 and was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2021…Notable NFL connections: Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was the Atlanta Falcons’ QBs coach for two seasons (2015-16) when Bears’ LBs coach Richard Smith was the defensive coordinator…Bears DL Grady Jarrett played for the Falcons when LaFleur was on the coaching staff…LaFleur was on the Houston Texans’ coaching staff and Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich played for the Texans when Smith was the defensive coordinator from 2008-09…LaFleur and Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower were both on the Washington Redskins’ coaching staff for four seasons (2010-13)…LaFleur was the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2017 when Bears senior defensive assistant Bill Johnson was on thecoaching staff…LaFleur was the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator in 2018 when Bears DB Kevin Byard III played there…Byard was teammates with Packers QB Malik Willis, TE Josh Whyle and LS Matt Orzech during his time with the Titans…Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and DBs coach Ryan Downard were on the Cleveland Browns’ coaching staff with Hightower in 2014…Bears TEs coach Jim Dray played for the Browns when Hafley and Downard were on the coaching staff from 2014-15…Bears head coach Ben Johnson was on the Miami Dolphins’ coaching staff when Packers WRs coach Ryan Mahaffey spent the offseason there in 2012 during his playing career…Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was on the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff from 2006-07 when Packers executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball was the Saints’ vice president of football administration…Packers DL Arron Mosby and Bears WR DJ Moore played together with the Carolina Panthers in 2022…Harkey crossed paths with Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds, C Ryan Bates, QB Case Keenum and DB Nick McCloud during his time on the Buffalo Bills’ coaching staff from 2022-24…Packers T/G Darian Kinnard and Bears DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson played together with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024…Harkey played for the St. Louis Rams and Packers RBs coach Ben Sirmans served in the same role when Giordano played there in 2013…Keenum was teammates with Packers QBs coach Sean Mannion with the Rams in 2016 and with Harkey from 2014-16…McKinney overlapped with Bears assistant special teams coach Anthony Blevins and DB Nick McCloud during his time with the N.Y. Giants…Hightower and Dray were on the San Francisco 49ers’ coaching staff when Hafley and Packers assistant DL coach Vince Oghobaase coached there…Hightower also overlapped with Stenavich during his time with the 49ers…Bears OL Joe Thuney played for the New England Patriots when Covington was on the coaching staff for four seasons (2017-20)…Bears RBs coach Eric Bieniemy was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator and Thuney played for the Chiefs when Kinnard played there from 2022-23…Smith was on the Las Vegas Raiders’ coaching staff in 2021 when Packers assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, assistant special teams coach Byron Storer, CB Keisean Nixon and RB Josh Jacobs were with the Raiders…Packers G Aaron Banks was teammates with McCloud with the 49ers for a portion of the 2024 season…Bears DB Nahshon Wright was teammates with Packers CB Trevon Diggs for three seasons (2021-23) with the Cowboys…Harris (2020-24) and Cowboys defensive assistant Cannon Matthews (2023) coached defensive backs for the Cowboys when Diggs played there…Notable college connections: Packers T Rasheed Walker played with Bears DB Jaquan Brisker and Bates at Penn State…Giordano and Storer were teammates at California in 2004…Moore played at Maryland in 2015 when Dunn was on the coaching staff… Getsy coached at Mississippi State when Bears DL Montez Sweat played there in 2018…Johnson played at North Carolina when Dunn was on the coaching staff from 2004-07…Hafley and Packers LBs coach Sean Duggan were on the coaching staff at Ohio State in 2019, where they crossed paths with Bears OL Jonah Jackson and assistant strength and conditioning coach Noble Landry…Bears LS Scott Daly played at Notre Dame when LaFleur and Mahaffey were on the coaching staff…Bears TE Cole Kmet, TE Durham Smythe and McCloud were teammates with Banks at Notre Dame… Williams played at Fresno State when Giordano was on the coaching staff in 2022…Mahaffey and Bears director of pro scouting D.J. Hord played together at Northern Iowa for two seasons (2008-09) and were on the coaching staff together for two seasons (2013, 2016)…Johnson and Poles were on the coaching staff at Boston College when Sirmans was the RBs coach from 2008-11…Hafley, Duggan, Oghobaase and McDuffie overlapped with Bears OL Ozzy Trapilo at Boston College…Bears RB D’Andre Swift crossed paths with Packers defensive quality control coach Wendel Davis, assistant OL coach Eddie Gordon and LB Quay Walker at Georgia…Bears DB Tyrique Stevenson also overlapped with Gordon, Walker, Packers DL Warren Brinson and DL Nazir Stackhouse at Georgia…Bears assistant OL coach Kyle DeVan was Packers T/G Jordan Morgan’s position coach for two seasons (2019- 20) at Arizona…Packers LB Edgerrin Cooper was teammates with Bears WR Jahdae Walker at Texas A&M in 2023… Packers LB Ty’Ron Hopper was teammates with Bears WR Luther Burden III at Missouri for two seasons (2022-23)… Other notable connections: Butkus is the nephew of Hall of Fame former Bears linebacker Dick Butkus.
