The time period between the end of the Billy Donovan era of Chicago Bulls coaching and the rise of current Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter’s coaching staff has been a long, winding, ambiguous journey. Early in Splitter’s arrival in Chicago, the possibility of retaining a large contingent of Donovan-era Bulls assistant coaches appeared to be the direction for Splitter's 2026-27 Bulls coaching staff.
However, over the course of the 2026 NBA offseason, Splitter’s coaching staff, almost like a bonsai tree, has become a manicured roster of new coaching additions, with Wes Unseld Jr. being the sole Donovan-era assistant coach holdover on Splitter’s coaching staff, according to the Chicago Bulls' formal announcement of Splitter’s finalized 2026-27 Bulls coaching staff.
Splitter shared illuminating insight on the organizational structure of his coaching staff in comments to CHSN’s K.C. Johnson.
I asked Tiago Splitter to detail his staff and I appreciated his nearly 4-minute answer. Remember: Splitter was elevated to acting head coach in Portland, so this was opportunity for Splitter to build his own staff in Chicago. Here’s what Splitter said ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MJDgc9u4C4
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 1, 2026
Despite what appears to be a rather voluminous coaching staff, the principal coaching voices that should influence the 2026-27 Chicago Bulls gameplay are Blake Ahearn and Jonah Herscu on the offensive side of the court and Jamelle McMillan on the defensive end of the court.
Projecting an Ahearn and Herscu Bulls offense
The Ahearn and Herscu offensive tag team is a logical pairing based on both coaches' professed basketball sensibilities. Neither coach possesses a bespoke offensive system like Mike Brown’s proclivity for the Princeton offense or Steve Kerr’s dynastic fusion of Tex Winter’s triangle offense with Gregg Popovich’s motion offense concepts.
Yet, Ahearn is a disciple of the Popovich coaching ecosystem and instead anchors his offensive coaching on simple principles such as traditional pick-and-roll actions for the best players on the team, ball movement, and shooting to achieve optimal offensive results. Ultimately, Ahearn wants his offense to play free and not encumber players with complex decisions.
The best example of Ahearn’s offensive impact shows up in the results of the 2021-22 Memphis Grizzlies roster, in which Ahearn, serving as assistant to then-head coach Taylor Jenkins, contributed to a top-five-ranked NBA offense while starting point guard Ja Morant finished the season winning the NBA Most Improved Player award.
Herscu amplifies what should be a Bulls coaching staff call for offensive simplicity going into the 2026-27 Bulls season. Herscu is a direct transfer from Splitter’s Portland Trail Blazers coaching staff and has a deep basketball coaching pedigree as an advanced scout.
What Bulls fans should care about more when it comes to Herscu’s contribution to Splitter's staff is his ability to create opponent scouting reports that are accurate and executable by Bulls players.
McMillian’s goal: inject defensive legacy into Bulls
McMillian is a well-traveled NBA assistant coach with direct ties to Bryson Graham’s New Orleans Pelicans legacy. McMillian’s personal NBA legacy also includes being the son of 12-year NBA veteran, two-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection, and the 1993-94 NBA Steals champion Nate McMillian.
Bulls assistant coach McMillan cares about defense, and the objective for him throughout the 2026-27 Bulls season will be to get the entire Bulls roster to care about defense as much as he does.
McMillan’s player benchmark for NBA defense is two-time NBA champion Jrue Holiday, so not only does McMillan have the challenge of getting the Bulls to care about defense, but also of getting the Bulls to play defense up to a standard that he’s familiar with seeing in his NBA coaching career.
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