DARRYL
DRAKE
Darryl Drake is in his fifth season as the Bears wide receivers coach. Drake was hired on February 6, 2004 after coaching 21 seasons at the collegiate level. He came to Chicago after six seasons (1998-2003) as the receivers coach at the University of Texas, adding the title of associate head coach on Mack Brown's Longhorns staff prior to the 2003 season.
Drake’s significant experience as a collegiate tutor of wide receivers has served him well during his time with the Bears as he worked with young receiving corps in each of his first four seasons in Chicago. Throughout his tenure, Muhsin Muhammad is the only receiver with more than four years experience that Drake has opened a season with. Through that time he has helped developed such young talent at the receiver position as Mark Bradley, Rashied Davis, Devin Hester and Bernard Berrian.
In 2007, the Bears passing attack finished with the third highest yardage total in team history (3,701 gross yards). Six different players finished with over 200 receiving yards, the most for the franchise since 2000. Chicago also had six contests with 250-plus gross passing yards, most in a single season since eight in 1999.
In 2007, Drake helped transform the Bears offense into one with big-play ability. Eight different players had receptions of 25-plus yards in 2007 with Chicago producing 25 of them in the last 13 games of the regular season, tied for third-most in the NFL. Drake helped develop Hester, who was in his first year as an NFL receiver into one of those big play threats. Hester had 20 receptions for 299 yards for a team-high 15.0 yards per reception. Hester’s two receiving touchdowns went for 81 and 55 yards. The 81-yard TD reception was the longest passing play for the franchise since 1994, as Hester became just the third player in franchise history whose first career TD reception was 80-plus yards.
During the Bears Super Bowl run in 2006 under Drake’s leadership, the Bears were the NFL leaders by hauling in 95.9-percent (282 of 294) of the catchable balls thrown their way. The 12 drops by Chicago’s receivers during the season equaled Buffalo for fewest in the League.
Under Drake’s guidance, Berrian led the Bears in 2007 with a career-high 951 receiving yards. That was the 13th-most receiving yards in Chicago single-season history.
At Texas, Drake guided three different Longhorn wide receivers to first-team all-Big 12 honors and directed three of the most productive receiving duos in UT history. While coaching the only 1,000-yard receivers in the school's history, the Longhorns averaged nearly 10 wins a season. Drake mentored first-round draft pick Roy Williams, who finished his UT career as the leading receiver in school history with 251 receptions for 4,017 yards (16.0 yards per receptions) and 37 touchdowns. He also coached Wayne McGarity, a fourth-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1999.
Prior to that, Drake spent one season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baylor (1997) after five seasons coaching wide receivers at Georgia (1992-96). During his time with the Bulldogs, Drake tutored some of the top receivers in the SEC: Andre Hastings, Brice Hunter and NFL Pro Bowler Hines Ward.
Drake began his coaching career at Western Kentucky as a graduate assistant coach (1983-84) and spent nine seasons with the Hilltoppers, working with the wide receivers for four seasons (1985-88), the secondary for two years (1989-90) and serving as the passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 1991. He starred as a wide receiver for WKU in 1975 and during the 1977-78 seasons. He helped the Hilltoppers to an 8-2 record and the OVC Championship as a senior and was a member of their 11-2 OVC Championship squad that played in the NCAA Division II Championship game in 1975.
Following his collegiate career, Drake spent time in professional football with the Washington Redskins (1979), Ottawa Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (1981) and Cincinnati Bengals (1983). The Louisville, Ky., native earned his bachelor's (1980) and master's (1984) from Western Kentucky.
Drake was an all-state performer in football and an All-American in both track and field and basketball at Flaget High School in Louisville. He and his wife, Sheila, have three daughters, Shanice, Felisha and Marian.
