Justin Fields is frustrated. That much is obvious. No matter what he might say now, his statement about being overcoached on Wednesday was not an accident. Most believe that is how the Chicago Bears quarterback truly feels. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is constricting him too much, not letting him play free. That, along with a continuous string of questionable outings as a play caller, once again brings into question whether it’s the right decision to keep him in charge for much longer.
That leads back to the original question from last year. What motivated Matt Eberflus to hire him in the first place? His answer centered on Getsy’s intelligence, teaching ability, and knowledge of the highly successful wide-zone offense across the NFL. However, there was one problem. Getsy had limited play calling experience. Here, former wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson dropped some knowledge on Undisputed.
It turns out Getsy never called plays at all, not even during his brief stint as an offensive coordinator at Mississippi State.
Johnson meant to say Joe Moorhead, not Dan Mullen. To confirm this, I did some quick digging. His assessment is correct. Shortly before the 2018 season, Moorhead confirmed he would call plays.
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“I call the plays. I will get suggestions from those guys. In between series is when most of those suggestions will occur,” Moorhead said. “Luke (Getsy) will have an overall grasp of the pass and run game, but his expertise lies in the pass game with coach (Andrew) Breiner. Charles (Huff), Marcus (Johnson) and (Mark) Hudspeth will work on protections, run game and things like that.”
Eberflus hired a completely untested Luke Getsy for the job.
There are instances where young coaches with no play calling experience end up handling the job well. However, there are far more cases where they don’t. It isn’t easy to find those types, even when you know what to look for. Eberflus, as a defensive specialist throughout his entire career, had zero experience with such a search. Rather than go with a proven commodity like Brian Schottenheimer, Klint Kubiak, or Greg Olson, he opted for somebody completely untried. His heart was in the right place, but it felt like the head coach misevaluated.
Maybe that isn’t true. Perhaps Fields truly is the problem. Then again, people said the same thing about Mitch Trubisky with Matt Nagy calling plays. It turned out both of them were the problem. Based on visual evidence, the same might be the case with Fields and Luke Getsy. There are 15 games left for them to change that narrative. Getsy remains steadfast in his approach, believing things will come together as players get more comfortable with each other. One can only hope at this point.
First time Coordinators, first time head coach, first time GM. I had fears from the jump despite hoping for the best.
How does one get experience calling plays without getting a job where you’re going to be calling plays?