Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor familiar with punter Johnny Hekker, kicker Zane Gonzalez

Tabor has 14 years of NFL experience, and recent success. The Bears ranked in the top 10 of Rick Gosselin’s special teams rankings each of the last two years. Tabor also spent time with the Browns, and that time when he coached Gonzalez seems like forever ago, when he considers the differences in Gonzalez then and now.

In 2017, the seventh-round pick hit 15-of-20 field goals, and struggled with the transition to the NFL after his career at Arizona State. But when Tabor watched the tape of Gonzalez last year — when he hit 20-of-22 field goals, and 17 in a row before a freak pre-game injury in Buffalo — he saw a different kicker.

“He’s obviously matured quite a bit,” Tabor said of Gonzalez. “And I think having him as a rookie, and Zane and I talk about this all the time, there’s a process for those guys that they go through. Think about, great college career, then they’ve got to prepare for the combine, from the combine, a lot of individual workouts with teams hoping to get drafted. Then they get drafted and they make a team, and then they prove their worth, then then make it to the season and the season starts. That’s a lot of game days for those guys.

“I see a player now that’s matured. He’s changed the way that he looks, body-type wise. And he’s learning — well not learning — he’s become a pro. And I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with him and hopefully it will be fun.”