Former Wisconsin wide receivers coach Chris Beatty was named interim offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears on Monday.
The move follows the Bears’ firing of coach Matt Eberflus and the subsequent promotion of fellow Badger coaching alumnus Thomas Brown to interim coach on Friday.
Beatty, who joined the Bears’ coaching staff this offseason, has been serving as the wide receivers coach through Chicago’s first eight games. He now inherits an offensive coordinator responsibility that Brown has held since Nov. 12 — the day Chicago relieved Shane Waldron of his coordinator duties.
Despite holding the OC title, Beatty will not call the plays. Brown, who has received two promotions in less than one month, will continue to orchestrate the offensive blueprint from the sidelines, per NBC Sports.
Bears promote Chris Beatty to interim offensive coordinator. https://t.co/WsJ6G4XJqn
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) December 2, 2024
Beatty’s connection to Wisconsin goes back to 2013 under former Badgers coach Gary Anderson. As wide receivers coach, Beatty captained a wide receiver room that featured Jared Abbrederis and Kenzel Doe.
The next season, he was accompanied by Brown (running backs coach) on the offensive side of the ball. That crew went 11-3 and secured a 34-19 Outback Bowl victory over Auburn.
Following his time in Madison, Beatty spent time as the running backs coach at Virginia (2015) and wide receivers coach at Maryland (2016-18) and Pittsburgh (2019-2020), before making the jump to the NFL level. There, he served Los Angeles Chargers’ wide receivers coach from 2021-23 before being hired by Chicago in 2024.
Beatty’s journey to the NFL level is almost identical to Brown’s. The two will look to bring the Bears back to the win column when they return to the field on Dec. 8 against the San Francisco 49ers.