The Monsters of the Midway’ Chicago Bears have zeroed in on a new offensive coordinator.
The Bears are finalizing a deal to hire ex- Seattle Seahawks OC Shane Waldron as their new coordinator, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Monday, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
The 44-year-old Waldron spent the past three years as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator. Prior to joining Seattle, Waldron worked under Sean McVay in the ‘City of Angels’, with the Los Angeles Rams, climbing the ladder from tight ends coach in 2017 to passing game coordinator before departing for the division rival in 2021.
It is a monumental upgrade and hire for coach Matt Eberflus after the Bears dismissed offensive coordinator Luke Getsy after another inept season for quarterback Justin Fields and the offense. Gesty came on board with the Bears wet behind the ears, with no pro play-calling experience, having worked alongside Matt LaFleur in Green Bay. The experiment failed miserably, as the Bears offense was a recipe of inconsistencies and head-scratching designs at times.
Hiring Waldron gives Eberflus a knowledgeable veteran, and creative mind as a play-caller who has shown an ability to mix the run and pass. Having worked under Pete Carroll, whose role recently changed with the organization into an advisor position, Waldron knows how to run an offense for a defensive-minded coach and was credited with helping quarterback Geno Smith to his 2022 Pro Bowl campaign and comeback player of the year award.
Waldron’s offense ranked middle of the pack, 17th in points per game (21.4) and 21st in yards per game (322.9) in 2023. The Bears were 18th (21.2) and 20th (232.2) in those categories, respectively.
Chicago’s offensive imbalance between owning the league’s No. 2 rushing offense while ranking 27th in passing was the main reason behind the Bears moving on from Getsy after two seasons.
“Obviously you want to have somebody that’s a great teacher,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said when asked what the team is looking for in its next offensive coordinator. “I think that’s important because you know he has to coach the coaches to coach the position. And I think that’s the No. 1 trait of any great coach. You have to be able to have the innovation to really look at the players that you have and be able to help enhance and put those guys in position to succeed and to get explosives and to move the ball down the field. So that right there, I think, is the most important thing, the teacher part of it and then the innovation part of it, and the creativity I think is going to be the biggest part.”
The sixty-four thousand dollar question remains who will be under center for Waldron moving forward.
Waldron will arrive in Chicago during a make it or break it offseason centered around the organization’s decision at quarterback. Over the next three months, the team will need to make a pivotal decision whether to use the first overall pick on USC’s Caleb Williams or another rookie in this quarterback-rich class or proceed with signal caller Justin Fields entering his fourth season.
The hiring of Waldron does not sound off alarm bells on where the Bears might be leaning toward, but his ability to adapt and work with multiple quarterbacks in his years in Los Angeles and Seattle makes it a good hire regardless of which track the front office decides to take.
