Shane Waldron was fired a month ago. One would think the stories about him would’ve trickled to a stop by now. That isn’t the case at all. If anything, they’ve grown more insane with each passing day. Adam Jahns and Dianna Russini of The Athletic may have just delivered the pièce de résistance. Head coach Matt Eberflus was fired on Friday after his disastrous handling of the end of the game in Detroit. Players are said to have gotten into a heated confrontation with him, led by cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
GM Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren were also furious. Both went to chairman George McCaskey, urging him to make a change to save the locker room. For the first time in over a century, ownership agreed. People debated where the problems began. While most agree the Hail Mary game was the breaking point, the first signs of a big problem came way back in training camp. It seems players caught on to Waldron being a fraud that early.
“Players’ frustrations with Waldron had been bubbling since the summer. The new offensive coordinator changed the Bears’ run game, scrapping two years of progress under offensive line coach Chris Morgan. His decision to install a pure progression passing system — a challenging scheme even for veteran QBs — further complicated things for Williams. Players voiced concerns to their head coach at various times but rarely felt heard.”
No wonder things fell apart for Shane Waldron so fast.
He changed a run scheme that had been successful for two years and installed a passing system that had only worked with the likes of Russell Wilson and Geno Smith, both decade-long veterans. It was a clear sign the offensive coordinator lacked the wherewithal of what he was stepping into. He’d never worked with a young quarterback in his career and had no concept of what forcing an advanced scheme onto him before he’s ready might do. No wonder Williams looked overwhelmed and lost in those three games after the bye week.
All one can do is ask what the hell Eberflus was thinking. He met with Shane Waldron twice in the interview process. Were no red flags raised at all during them? Then again, this is the man who thought Luke Getsy was the perfect option as well. This was the risk the Bears ran by allowing the head coach to stick around. It was possible, just possible, that he didn’t know how to identify a good coordinator. In the end, that mistake, along with refusing to listen to his players’ concerns, cost him his job.
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Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum! You pick who is who.
Eberflus chose Luke Getsy and Shane Waldron. Neither were the right man for the job. On the other hand, Ryan Poles added Thomas Brown to the coaching staff. Big difference!
@Tred
Darrell Bevell worked with a young Russell Wilson, and a journal Geno Smith. Waldron. didn’t. What scared me? Bevell also worked with Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Jaxon Smith-Njigma came into Waldron’s offense, and if you watched Jaxon at OSU, and how he was used in Seattle, it was awful. I KNEW Waldron had problems designing receiver patterns to open the field.
Williams knew it too.
@Dr. Steve
Let’s put aside all the Systemic Bias, shall we? Waldron was a “nice guy” who didn’t rise above his image. Same with Eberflus.
But it is doubtful if Aqualung could have done the job well either (although giving him a try despite the snot running down his nose and time spending eyeing girls with bad intent would probably not help his mental focus.)
Hey, just watching tape of KC – LV game. Looking at the difference in Aidan O’Connell with Scott Turner as offensive coordinator and earlier games with same quarterback and Luke Getsy. Vegas is LAST in rushing yardage in the league. Last under Getsy. Carving up KC with two practice squad backs under Scott Turner (Norv Turner’s son – and Norv is an “assistant” coach). It’s the coaching. Nice guys can be good coaches, but not if “nice” is a priority. Belching and farting is disgusting, but if that person is the best in their field, you live with it. If… Read more »