Shane Waldron was the first name to emerge among the Chicago Bears’ potential replacements for offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. There was bound to be more coming. Sure enough, only 24 hours later, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN revealed the second. Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles plan to interview San Francisco 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak for the position. This isn’t a huge surprise. Kubiak is the son of Gary Kubiak, one of the original pioneers of the wide-zone offense alongside Mike Shanahan. Klint ran that offense for a year in 2021 as offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.
It went well. Kirk Cousin had the third-highest passer rating of his career. Dalvin Cook topped 1100 yards rushing in only 13 games. Justin Jefferson had a monster season, while Adam Thielen caught 10 touchdowns. Sadly, Kubiak wasn’t able to build on that first year. Mike Zimmer was fired as head coach the subsequent off-season after a disappointing 8-9 finish. Kubiak spent a year in Denver last season before landing in San Francisco as their passing game coordinator. He helped Brock Purdy have an MVP-caliber year.
The Chicago Bears are clearly operating with a goal in mind.
While Eberflus suggested he’s open to any offensive scheme change, this suggests he would prefer to stick with the wide-zone system he tried to establish with Getsy. That isn’t a surprise. The scheme is a proven success across the league. Kubiak has worked under two of the best play callers with that system in NFL history. His father had great success in Houston with it, then won a Super Bowl with Denver in 2015. Kyle Shanahan is arguably the best going in all of football. Klint has had such a strong education despite still only being 36 years old.
The Chicago Bears also seem intent on finding somebody with previous play-calling experience. That is probably a smart decision after watching Getsy flounder for two years. Kubiak only did it for one year, but seemed to handle the job pretty well. It would be interesting to see if he’s learned a few things in the two years since he last held the call sheet. The fact he’s taking an interview suggests he is interested in the Bears job, which is a welcome sign given his cushy status in San Francisco.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
