Antwaan Randle El enters his first season with the Bears in 2025.
A two-time Super Bowl champion, both as a player (Super Bowl XL) and coach (Super Bowl LV), Randle El was a nine-year NFL veteran at wide receiver, appearing in over 150 career games (postseason included), before commencing his coaching career in 2019.
Randle El returns to his hometown of Chicago after spending the last four seasons leading the wide receiver group of the Detroit Lions. Over his four seasons with Detroit, Randle El contributed to two NFC North Division titles, while aiding in the development of a wide receiver group that featured eventual two-time AP First-Team All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler Amon-Ra St. Brown.
In 2024, Randle El's aid of the Lions' offense helped Detroit average a franchise-record 409.5 yards per game, as the team averaged a league-high 32.4 points per game and accumulated 68 total offensive touchdowns – the most by any team in the NFL. Randle El's wide receiver group helped the unit own the No. 2 passing offense in the NFL (263.2), as Detroit's 7 drops over the entire regular season were the fewest by any team in the NFL and the fewest by any team since 2019 (Atlanta, 7). St. Brown earned his second-straight AP First-Team All-Pro acknowledgment and third-straight Pro Bowl nod, becoming just third player in NFL history to record at least 115 receptions and 10 receiving touchdowns in consecutive seasons, including a career-high 12 receiving scores in 2024.
Randle El's work in 2023 helped the Lions reach the NFC Championship game after finishing the regular season with the No. 2 passing offense (258.9) and No. 3 total offense (394.8) in the NFL. Under Randle El's tutelage, St. Brown became just the third Lions wide receiver to earn AP First-Team All-Pro honors after leading the NFL in 100-yard receiving games (nine) and tying for the second-most receptions by any player in the league (1009).
Over his first two seasons in Detroit, Randle El aided in the development of St. Brown, while also grooming a group that would eventually earn two-straight division titles. In 2022, the Lions' wide receiving corps finished top-10 in receptions (383), receiving yards (4,444), receiving first downs (228), receiving touchdowns (29), receptions of over 25 yards (35) and yards after catch (2,217). Under Randle El's direction, the Lions were one of five teams to have six players record over 350 receiving yards. Over the 2021-22 seasons, St. Brown tied an NFL record by producing at least eight receptions in eight-straight games. In their first season together, Randle El helped St. Brown set a team-record with six-straight games of at least eight receptions, becoming the first rookie in NFL history to do so.
Prior to Detroit, Randle El spent two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2019-20), working as an offensive assistant. In his second season, the Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV to claim his second World Championship, first as a coach. Over his two seasons with the Buccaneers, Randle El aided an offense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL in passing offense (307.8 yards per game) and totaled 119 offensive touchdowns, a league-high. He also worked Tampa Bay's wide receiver group, which featured WR Mike Evans securing over 1,000 receiving yards each season.
As a player, Randle El totaled 4,467 yards on 370 receptions (12.1 avg.) and 15 receiving touchdowns in 143 career games played (71 starts) in the regular season for the Pittsburgh Steelers (2002-05, '10) and with Washington (2006-09). In 2005, Randle El's career-high 15.9 yards per reception helped Pittsburgh reach the postseason, where he started all four postseason bouts for the Steelers en route to a World Championship by defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Randle El, who added six passing touchdowns and six touchdowns via kickoff and punt returns, was selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft.
Randle El, a former quarterback, prepped collegiately at Indiana University, earning first-team All-America and Big Ten Conference Most Valuable Player honors following his final season in 2001. Over his tenure in Bloomington, earned All-Big Ten honors on three occasions, leaving college as the FBS' all-time leader in rushing yards by a quarterback. A former Big Ten Freshman of the Year honoree, the annual award is now named after Randle El. Randle El also spent time on the basketball and baseball teams at Indiana, playing under Hall of Fame coach Bobby Knight on the hardwood. Randle El was inducted into the Indiana Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.
Before entering the coaching ranks, Randle El served as the Athletic Director at Virginia Academy in Ashburn, Va., a Christian high school that he helped found.
A native of Riverdale, Ill., Randle El graduated from nearby Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill., and, in 1997, was selected by the hometown Chicago Cubs in the 14th round (424th overall) of the Major League Baseball Draft.
Randle El is married to his wife, Jaune, and they are parents to six children.
