When Matt Eberflus earned the Chicago Bears head coaching job, fans were anxious to see what kind of staff he’d put together. Especially in regards to the offensive coordinator, given his defensive background. He needed to find somebody capable of developing Justin Fields and producing an offense that hasn’t cracked the top 10 in almost a decade. There were plenty of interesting names he was connected to. Scott Milanovich and Mike Groh in Indianapolis. Scott Linehan, Derek Dooley, and Bill Callahan in Dallas. Instead, Eberflus pulled a shocker when he pried passing game coordinator Luke Getsy away from the Green Bay Packers.
It marked the first time in recorded history the Bears had ever hired a prominent coach away from their longtime rivals. What made it even more confusing was the two men shared no connection. Eberflus and Getsy had never worked together before. So it was confusing how the new head coach determined that the 37-year old assistant was the right man to cultivate Fields. He explained to Albert Breer of the MMQB that he had the staff he wanted thought-out well before he started interviewing. It wasn’t about connections for him.
It was about what they showed on film.
I pulled out my list that I had when I interviewed, and I’m looking at it and I’m going, ‘Jeez, I wanted to be right around 65 to 70%, and if I could get those guys, I’m doing pretty good,’” Eberflus said. “I told those guys in the interview, I said, ‘Yeah, I think I can give you a little close to that.’ And things happen and guys decide for different reasons what they want to do. But we have a lot of good relationships with these coaches, and they’re all like-minded.” Safe to say the Bears did better than 65 to 70%? “Yes,” Eberflus said, “it’s safe to say that.”
Eberflus always says what’s on the tape is a coach’s résumé—it’s one way he’s worked out his staff hires with guys like Getsy whom he hasn’t worked with before.
For Getsy, he started putting himself on film back in 2018 when he was the offensive coordinator for Mississippi State. Despite it being his first year on the job, the Bulldogs still finished with a top 20 offense in rushing at 223.6 yards per game. Fresh off a season-ending ankle injury, quarterback Nick Fitzgerald threw for 1,767 yards and rushed for 1,121. He accounted for 29 total touchdowns.
When he returned to Green Bay as their new passing game coordinator, Getsy quietly did some excellent work in helping make life easier for Aaron Rodgers. In the previous 48 games before the young coach’s arrival, the future Hall of Fame QB had completed 62.66% of his passes for 12,798 yards, 97 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions. Good for a 96.7 passer rating. In the 48 games they’ve been together, Rodgers has completed 67.1% of his passes for 12,416 yards, 111 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Good for a 109.2 passer rating.
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Eberflus trusted his eyes when watching Luke Getsy work
After almost three decades of working as a defensive coach, Eberflus has learned to spot coaches who are pretty good at their jobs on the offensive side. He got a take of what Getsy could do in 2020 when the Packers and his Indianapolis Colts met on November 22nd. While the Colts escaped with the win, Rodgers dissected their defense for 311 yards and three touchdowns, completing 71.05% of his passes.
Eberflus knew that Luke Getsy had the qualifications to build the type of scheme necessary to help Fields excel. His expertise in run-pass options mixed with Shanahan outside zone running concepts makes for a potent combination. If things function as intended, Fields should find a lot more easy completions this season, along with plenty of play action bootleg opportunities. Something he was pretty good at as a rookie.
Before that, though, Getsy must work on other areas.
Word is he’s already working on Fields to improve two key areas of his game. Ball security and quicker decision-making. The QB had 12 fumbles as a rookie. Way too many. He also had an average time to throw of 2.91 seconds—the seventh-worst in the league. In order words, he had a bad tendency to hold the ball too long, waiting for big plays. He must learn to take what the defense gives him more often. Eberflus believes he’ll get there with Getsy’s help.
