The Chicago Bears now have three offensive coordinator candidates who have been reported by national insiders. They are Shane Waldron, Klint Kubiak, and Liam Coen. All three have the same things in common. They’re on the younger side, have play-calling experience, and run a variation of the Shanahan-style wide-zone offense. While it hasn’t come out yet, there is a fourth candidate in the mix, according to Danny Parkins of 670 The Score. That is longtime assistant Greg Olson.
No, it’s not the one you’re thinking of. This is Olson with an o, not an e. The 60-year-old has been around the NFL since 2001, when he broke in as quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. Two years later, he held the same position in Chicago. Since 2005, he has held the offensive coordinator job with five different organizations. While he didn’t always have the best luck with talent to work with, one trend seemed to stand out consistently.
He did well getting the most out of his quarterbacks.
Greg Olson squeezed good years from bad quarterbacks.
He took over the development of 1st round pick Josh Freeman in 2009 with Tampa Bay. A year later, the QB threw for 3400 yards, 25 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. In hindsight, that feat doesn’t get nearly enough credit, given how terrible Freeman turned out to be. Two years later in Oakland, he got a decent rookie season from Derek Carr (3200 yards, 21 TDs, 12 INTs). Yet Olson’s masterpiece may have come in 2015 when he got Blake Bortles to throw for 4400 yards and 35 touchdowns.
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In truth, Greg Olson might be best served as a quarterbacks coach. He has held that role since 2017 with the Rams, Raiders, and Seahawks. In that time, Jared Goff, Carr, and Geno Smith all had career years. It would be a steal if the Bears could get him into that role. He does well with his quarterbacks as a play-caller but has never produced good running games. That might be a dealbreaker for Eberflus. Besides, his background in the Shanahan system isn’t nearly as strong as the other candidates.
@Sam K says it straight and accurately. Get your next scaepegoat read for all the JF1 lovers to blame isn’t getting enough out of the QB.
I don’t agree with anything Sam K just said about Justin Fields. Justin Fields is the leader of the Bears. I know for a fact that he is leadering somewhere right now. And he’s very handsome, super macho, and probably would change a flat tire for a baby that was broken down on the side of the road.
I get paid more than $140 to $170 per hour for working online. I heard about this job 3 months ago and after joining this I have earned easily $10k from this without having online working skills . Simply give it a shot on the accompanying site…
ONLY COPY AND OPEN.… 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮𝙋𝙖𝙮1.𝙘𝙤𝙢
The big wait is on!!! Who will the Bears hire for the Fields cult to blame next year??? I’m sure individual excuses n reasons for blame are already being thought of for each candidate as I write this 😁😁😁
I still haven’t heard any names that really stand out aside from Waldron. I suppose there may be value in interviewing Olson to get his opinions on JF1 vs the QBs coming out. I get the feeling that with some of these interviews, Poles is trying to pick the candidate’s brains – which is smart – as opposed to trying to pick the new OC. Just a thought – and it is just a stray, not-fleshed out – thought. Does Poles really want to set the precedent of interfering with the HC’s ability to choose his own staff? They’ve already… Read more »