The Chicago Bears cast a wide net in their search for an offensive coordinator. In the end, head coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles felt the best approach was to stick with the system they’d targeted since they arrived in 2022. When Luke Getsy was hired, it was for the purpose of installing the widely popular Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay offense known as the wide-zone. Unfortunately, Getsy proved ill-equipped to run it properly. Rather than scrap everything, the Bears chose to find somebody with more experience in it. So they hired Shane Waldron, the Seattle Seahawks’ former offensive coordinator.
He learned the offense for years working under McVay in Los Angeles and brought his own flavor to it with the Seahawks. Former Bears tight end and top analyst for Fox Sports, Greg Olsen, went on Waddle & Silvy for ESPN 1000 to talk about the hire. In his mind, it was an easy decision from the Bears’ perspective. If Waldron is allowed to run that system in its purest form, something he wasn’t always able to do in Seattle due to personnel limitations, then whichever young quarterbacks they go with is likely to have success.
The proof is scattered across the NFL.
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The Bears’ process in hiring Shane Waldron was sound.
They identified an experienced playcaller in a proven system and felt he was what they needed to get things pointed in the right direction. All one has to do is look at his work with Geno Smith. In his 41 career games prior to joining Waldron in Seattle, the former 2nd round pick had 29 touchdowns, 36 interceptions, and a 72.9 passer rating. In their 36 games together over the past three seasons, Smith has 55 touchdowns, 21 interceptions, and a 97.3 passer rating. That is incredible improvement from somebody everyone considered a bust.
Nobody is saying Shane Waldron is perfect. Every playcaller has flaws, even the best ones. He’s no different. Still, the evidence speaks for itself. He got a lot out of what he had, helping the Seahawks to back-to-back winning seasons despite having to carry a bad defense. Now he will have a chance to work with a far more talented quarterback in Chicago, not to mention what should be a top-10 defense. Olsen is correct. If he’s allowed to operate his preferred offense, it will have success.
