Nobody knows what the Chicago Bears plan to do at offensive coordinator. They’ve interviewed nine candidates to this point. Everybody seems to have a favorite, but there are no indications the Bears themselves do. Maybe it’s Shane Waldron or Klint Kubiak, the two most accomplished runners of that Shanahan/McVay wide-zone scheme. Or perhaps they go with Kliff Kingsbury, the Air Raid wizard who helped mold Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray into eventual Pro Bowlers. However, former NFL tight end Clay Harbor thinks one of the names on the list isn’t getting enough attention.
He believes one name worth watching is Greg Olson. No, it’s not the former tight end. This 60-year-old is a longtime assistant with 14 years of coordinating experience. Harbor played in his system for a season in 2015, leaving a lasting impression.
One consistent theme of Olson’s NFL tenure is a tendency to pull impressive seasons from mediocre quarterbacks. He got 25 touchdowns and six INTs from Josh Freeman in 2010. In 2015, Blake Bortles cracked 4,000 yards with 35 touchdowns. Derek Carr had his two best passing seasons in 2019 and 2020 with Olson as offensive coordinator in Las Vegas. If he could do that with those guys, it’s hard not to wonder what he could accomplish with Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.
This is an interesting conundrum for the Chicago Bears.
Olson actually runs an offense that seems to be the hot commodity these days. Experts agree schemes with a high volume of motions and shifts tend to give current defenses big problems. Mike McDaniel in Miami is a perfect example. So why isn’t the man getting a closer look? The simplest answer is that for all the good things he’s done for his quarterbacks, his offenses almost universally struggle when trying to run the ball. Of the 14 seasons he had the headset, his unit finished in the top 15 for rushing only four times.
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That probably won’t sit well with Eberflus. He wants an offense that can maintain a balanced attack, running the ball to chew clock, wearing the opponent down, and weaponizing the play action game. It is what can make that wide-zone scheme so devastating. That isn’t Olson’s game. His expertise centers around making life easy for his quarterback. Very much a pass-first guy. Maybe that is what the Chicago Bears need if they want to finally establish that position. Harbor seems to think so.
