The Bears have hired a new offensive coordinator, less than two weeks after firing Luke Getsy, a source confirmed to NBC Sports Chicago on Monday. Shane Waldron will take over the reins for the Bears offense and will be charged with developing a quarterback– no matter if that QB is Justin Fields or an incoming rookie. Tom Pelissero was the first to report the news.
Here’s a quick primer on Shane Waldron’s experience and what to expect from the Bears offense under his leadership.
SHANE WALDRON COACHING EXPERIENCE
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Waldron is 44 years old with 19 years of coaching experience, including nine years at the NFL level. He started his professional career as an offensive quality control coach and tight ends coach for the Patriots in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Most recently, Waldron worked as the Seahawks offensive coordinator from 2021-2023. Before that, Waldron spent four seasons with the Rams. He started in Los Angeles as a tight ends coach, then moved up the ranks to passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Waldron also had a short stint in Washington as an offensive quality control coach, plus time in the college ranks as a position coach and one season in the United Football League with the Hartford Colonials.
SHANE WALDRON COACHING TREE
Waldron is probably most closely associated with Sean McVay from his time with the Rams, which is considered an offshoot of the Kyle Shanahan tree, which is in turn an offshoot of his dad, Mike Shanahan's, tree. This is similar to Luke Getsy, who learned under Matt LaFleur– another Shanahan offshoot.
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SHANE WALDRON OFFENSIVE SCHEME
There’s a good chance the Bears offense under Waldron looks similar to how it looked under Getsy. As mentioned earlier, Waldron comes from a Shanahan offshoot, like Getsy. Accordingly, it leans on a strong run game to open up opportunities in the pass game.
WHAT PLAYERS HAS SHANE WALDRON HELPED
Waldron has earned praise for helping Geno Smith turn his career around with the Seahawks over the past two seasons. Smith was generally forgotten after four bad seasons to start his career with the Jets. From 2013-2016, Smith completed just 57.9% of his passes for 5,962 yards, 28 touchdowns and 36 interceptions. From 2017-2021 he started just four games. But the Seahawks handed him the keys in 2022 and he thrived. Smith completed a league-leading 69.8% of his passes for 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. He finished ninth in MVP voting that year and won Comeback Player of the Year.
Beyond Smith, Waldron was involved with a trio of Rams receivers hitting it big. It’s hard to say exactly where McVay ends and his assistants begin, but the offense supported two 1,000-yard receivers in two of Waldron’s three seasons as pass game coordinator. In 2018, Robert Woods hit 1,219 yards while Brandin Cooks had 1,204. In 2019, Cooper Kupp led the way with 1,161 and Woods followed with 1,134. In 2020, the Rams barely missed the same mark. Kupp finished that year with 974 yards and Woods finished with 936.
For more on how Waldron will figure into the development of a Bears QB, click here.