The Chicago Bears pulled a slight surprise in 2022 when they hired Green Bay Packers passing game coordinator Luke Getsy to become their new offensive coordinator. He had zero prior experience on the job, making him a calculated shot in the dark. While he’d gotten to learn at the right hand of Matt Lafleur, Getsy wasn’t bringing Aaron Rodgers with him. He’d have to figure out how to make the offense functional with a different type of quarterback. It didn’t work out. While Chicago had a strong ground game in 2022 and 2023, they never managed to blossom through the air.
As a result, Getsy was fired after the end of last season. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus acknowledged the lack of development as a primary reason for the decision. What people apparently missed was a wrinkle that went back to the decision to hire him in the first place. Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times mentioned it in his latest column while discussing Poles’ work at rebuilding the team.
“Poles started without a first-round pick, which would’ve been No. 5 that year, and had little choice but to unload future Hall of Famer Khalil Mack. He didn’t dig that hole for the Bears, but he had to climb out of it.
He made his own mistakes, too. Trading the No. 32 overall pick for Chase Claypool was highly regrettable. The Bears would be better off if they still had Roquan Smith, who has made All-Pro twice since Poles unloaded him. Poles indirectly acknowledged the team rushed its hire of former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.”
This is not something that was talked about enough with Luke Getsy.
People forget that Chicago only met with two potential candidates for the offensive coordinator job. Getsy was one. Longtime coordinator and quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton was the other. Remember that Eberflus was hired on January 27th. Getsy arrived on January 30th, only three days later. In hindsight, that decision was absolutely rushed. Conversely, he was fired on January 10th this year. Shane Waldron, his replacement, didn’t arrive until the 23rd, almost two weeks later. During that span, they interviewed at least half a dozen candidates.
It appears the Bears learned their lesson. They wouldn’t make the same mistakes they did with Luke Getsy. The next search was steady and more methodical. It also seemed to focus on candidates with proven experience, especially regarding quarterback development. Waldron checked both boxes. Early signs indicate the organization made a solid choice. Getsy seems to have landed on his feet in Las Vegas. Still, his tenure serves as a cautionary tale. Never, ever rush important decisions.
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So again, the headline doesn’t match the content.
Let’s see if Chris “C-Mo” Morgan steps up and actually performs to the level of an NFL OL coach.
The recent addition of assistant offensive line coach, Jason Houghtaling might motivate “C-Mo” —
but an upgrade in performance is needed, however it is accomplished.
So far Morgan has looked like a “go along to get along” shill for Ryan Poles’ more questionable acquisitions (Lucas Patrick, Alex Leatherwood, Nate Davis, et al).
Time will tell.
Any given year there are only so many people to choose from for OCs and DCs. One has to chose from the available pool. This past year should prove beneficial to the Bears as an experienced OC became available by chance. Yes time will tell if it was the right choice. Many years it’s a crap shoot because really good QBs can make an average OC look good. Hence they get HC jobs undeservingly….is that a word?….as in Matt Nagy. In his case it was the QB and Andy Reed. Sometimes an OC can raise the level of play from… Read more »
Yes. Hate this delay to start the season. Let’s get started.
So, here’s the only way we find out if GM, Ryan Poles, AGM, Ian Cunningham and HC Matt Eberflus “learned their lessons:”
It’s called the 2024 NFL season.
Bear Down!