22 January 2024
The Chicago Bears are working on a deal to hire Shane Waldron to be their new offensive coordinator, a source confirmed Monday morning.
Waldron has been the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator for the last three seasons and helped quarterback Geno Smith to a comeback season in 2022. Before that, Waldron spent four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams as the passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach.
NFL Network first reported the news of the Bears planning to hire Waldron.
Waldron replaces offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, whom coach Matt Eberflus fired earlier this month after two seasons at the helm of the Bears offense. Eberflus said then that he first wanted to find an offensive coordinator who was a “great teacher.”
“That’s important because you know he has to coach the coaches to coach the position, and I think that’s the No. 1 trait of any great coach,” Eberflus said. “You have to be able to have the innovation to really look at the players that you have and be able to help enhance and put those guys in position to succeed and to get explosives and to move the ball down the field. So that is the most important thing, the teacher part of it, and then the innovation part of it and the creativity is going to be the biggest part.”
Waldron will take over a Bears offense that has a major question to answer this offseason: What to do at quarterback. Bears general manager Ryan Poles must decide whether to use the No. 1 draft pick to select a quarterback or to stick with Justin Fields, the Bears starter for the last three seasons.
Waldron also served as an offensive assistant with the New England Patriots (2008-09) and Washington (2016) and worked in operations with the Patriots early in his career. He also has coached in college, high school and the UFL.
The Bears also must hire coaches for quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs.
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