Bears Move on From OC Luke Getsy, Rest of Offensive Coaching Staff, Retain HC Matt Eberflus
The Bears shook up their coaching staff on Wednesday afternoon but not as much as many fans were hoping they would. Team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles announced offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and the rest of the offensive coaching staff had been fired.
Now official: #Bears coach Matt Eberflus moves on from OC Luke Getsy, QBs coach Andrew Janocko, WRs coach Tyke Tolbert, RBs coach Omar Young and assistant TEs coach Tim Zetts. https://t.co/4dCfrHkLpZ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2024
Chicago’s braintrust said head coach Matt Eberflus would return for 2024 despite the struggles of his first two years in the job. This will upset many Bears fans who felt it was time for a total reset of the coaching staff. He clearly will be on a tremendously hot seat this upcoming season to make his team a real contender.
There is also an opening at defensive coordinator after Alan Williams was fired early in the season for an unspecified violation of human resources regulations at Halas Hall. Poles gave no indication of what the Bears plan to do about the quarterback position.
Whoever they choose to be the offensive coordinator could be an indication of which way they intend to go with Justin Fields. If he does stay it will be the third different coordinator he has worked with in four years, not an easy task for anyone. On the other hand, if they use the number one pick on a quarterback like Caleb Williams they may choose a coordinator that has some familiarity with that player.
The Bears are also in danger of repeating the dysfunctional pattern they have followed recently of allowing coaching staffs on the hot seat to draft a new quarterback. The John Fox regime drafted Mitch Trubisky then were fired after one season and new coach Matt Nagy was stuck with a quarterback he didn’t want. Nagy then drafted Fields and was fired the next season. Now Eberflus could draft a quarterback and very easily be fired after next season causing the same problem.
Which makes me think maybe the intention is to keep Justin Fields next season and trade down in the draft. That would likely force the Bears to sign him to a contract extension if they aren’t going to use the very valuable first overall pick on a QB. It’s very hard to feel confidence in an organization that has stumbled so many times in the past but this is the biggest opportunity they probably will ever have. Hopefully, they could do something good with it or they might stay irrelevant for another decade.
If you want to watch the press conference yourself here is a link to it.
GM Ryan Poles and Coach Eberflus' end-of-season press conference is underway https://t.co/E3xtRCEUPY
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 10, 2024
