The Chicago Bears coaching staff is falling into place quickly. At the same time they announced their new defensive coordinator, they also revealed they’d found their next offensive line coach as well. His name is Chris Morgan. This is somebody with 13 years of experience coaching linemen. Most recently he was the assistant offensive line coach in Pittsburgh and before that spent six seasons running the line for the Atlanta Falcons.
So why would the Bears pinpoint him as their choice? The reasoning is simple. A large chunk of Morgan’s experience came working in the Shanahan-style offense. He spent three seasons in it under Mike Shanahan in Washington and then another two in Atlanta under Kyle Shanahan. That final year in 2016, the Falcons reached the Super Bowl. New Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and head coach Matt Eberflus want to incorporate parts of the Shanahan system into their new offense.
Hiring somebody like Morgan makes a ton of sense.
We have hired Chris Morgan as our OL coach.https://t.co/dapx1YZP3c
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) February 2, 2022
The cool thing about Morgan is he’s had some excellent teachers during his rise up the NFL ranks. He spent two years under the highly respected Tom Cable in Oakland. Then three years under Chris Foerster in Washington. Nobody can say he didn’t get results either. Jake Matthews became a Pro Bowler under his guidance in Atlanta while Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary both emerged as solid long-term starters. This isn’t his work with established veterans like Alex Mack and Trent Williams. Both of them played some of their best football with him coaching.
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Chris Morgan might not carry the flash some fans are looking for. Yet when it comes to fit, there is no argument to be made. His background leans exactly in the direction Getsy is hoping to go with this new offense. The most interesting part is that Pittsburgh didn’t just let him go. Mike Tomlin actually promoted him to offensive line coordinator after firing Adrian Klemm. The Steelers wanted him to stay.
So for him to leave for Chicago says a lot about how he views the opportunity.
