Aubrey Pleasant spent the 2022 season in Green Bay
Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson and Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach/passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant have a history together. They coached with the Detroit Lions in 2021 and 2022 until Lions head coach Dan Campbell fired Pleasant mid-season in 2022.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the two may cross paths again, as the Bears requested Pleasant to interview for the defensive coordinator opening for Johnson’s new team.
Pleasant has ties to another NFC North head coach, beyond Campbell and Johnson, though. Not only did Pleasant coach with Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur when the two were both working with the Los Angeles Rams, but LaFleur actually hired Pleasant during the 2022 season, following his firing from the Lions, as an “offensive consultant.” Pleasant worked with LaFleur to help him reverse engineer what opposing defenses were doing, similar to the role that Robert Saleh filled in 2024.
After that half-season in Green Bay, Pleasant began his second stint with the Rams. A year later, he was promoted to Sean McVay’s assistant head coach.
Technically, the Rams cannot block an interview request for Pleasant, as he doesn’t hold a defensive coordinator title. If Johnson wants to name Pleasant, who is familiar with how LaFleur’s offense works, his defensive coordinator, then there’s little stopping him.