Matt Eberflus made a tough decision in January. He knew things had to change on offense if the Chicago Bears were going to take the next step. That required a complete revamp. Justin Fields was traded to Pittsburgh for a conditional 6th round pick. Also, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and most of his staff were shown the door. Eberflus wanted to find somebody with proven experience who could develop the young quarterback Chicago was now guaranteed to select in the upcoming draft. After a lengthy vetting process, the Bears head coach settled on Shane Waldron.
The 44-year-old had spent the past three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, producing some impressive offensive output despite a big quarterback transition that saw Russell Wilson traded to Denver. Undeterred, Waldron molded backup Geno Smith into the new starter, sending him to the Pro Bowl in 2022. Yet it wasn’t those successes that led to Eberflus’ decision to hire him. Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune spoke to the head coach about it.
Eberflus interviewed nine candidates for the job but was most drawn to Waldron, who spent the previous three seasons as the Seattle Seahawks coordinator under coach Pete Carroll and four before that on Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams staff.
The Bears already are convinced they have felt a natural click between Waldron and Williams, something Eberflus believes has been the result of pairing a passionate teacher and an engaged student with an appetite for football knowledge.
“It’s a great combination,” Eberflus told the Tribune. “When you have an elite teacher like Shane, he’s able to make the complex simple and the irregular regular. And he’s been able to do that with a complex offense. You can really feel that.”
During Waldron’s initial interview with the Bears in Los Angeles, he quickly won over Eberflus with his offensive vision, sharp communication skills and, in Eberflus’ words, “his ability to make things clear and concise in his presentation.”
He learned under coaching legends such as Bill Belichick, Sean McVay, and Pete Carroll. All three of those men showed they could develop quarterbacks. Waldron took lessons from each of them, forming his own methods of communication. It appears to already be having a positive effect. Caleb Williams has shown flashes of excellent processing and operation from the pocket. Of course, Eberflus’ defense isn’t making that easy. They’ve been giving the offense problems through the first week of training camp.
That hasn’t deterred anybody. Shane Waldron knew it would be a process from the beginning. Installing a new offense is difficult. He found that out in Seattle three years ago. Even with a proven star like Wilson, there were consistency issues the team had to work through over the course of the season. By the end of it, things were clicking. Seattle scored 30 points or more in four of their final six games. Waldron must stay the course and keep teaching his players. The more he harps on the details, the likelier it is they will stick.
Eberflus trusts him.
