Tag: Chris Beatty

Bears to hire Thomas Brown as passing game coordinator

The Bears are set to hire former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to their coaching staff.

The Chicago Bears offensive coaching staff continues to take shape as another vacancy has reportedly been filled. The Bears are set to hire former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to be their passing game coordinator, according to multiple reports. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune was first with the news.

Brown was a candidate for the Bears’ offensive coordinator vacancy before they settled on Shane Waldron. The two have worked together in the past, when they were both with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. Brown spent three seasons with the Rams, coaching running backs in 2020. He added assistant head coach to his responsibilities in 2021, before coaching tight ends in 2022. Last season, he joined Frank Reich’s staff in Carolina as their offensive coordinator, where he worked with Bryce Young during his rookie season. When Carolina fired Reich, Brown took over playcalling duties for the remainder of the season.

Now Brown comes to the Bears, where he once again could be coaching a rookie quarterback, only this time as a passing game coordinator. Brown is highly regarded around the league and popular among players, too. He was voted the No. 2 ranked offensive coordinator by NFL players in a survey conducted by the NFLPA near the end of the regular season.

The addition of Brown comes just hours after the Bears hired Chris Beatty as their wide receivers coach.

Bears hire Chris Beatty as new wide receivers coach

The Bears added to their offensive staff with the hiring of Chris Beatty as wide receivers coach.

The Chicago Bears have hired Chris Beatty as their new wide receivers coach, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

It marks the second hire for new Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who previously hired Kerry Joseph as quarterbacks coach.

Beatty boasts 26 years of experience, most of it coming at the collegiate level and as a wide receivers coach. He made the jump to the NFL with the Chargers as their wide receivers coach, a role he’s served since 2021. Beatty worked with the likes of Mike Williams and Keenan Allen in Los Angeles, and he’ll now get to work with DJ Moore, Tyler Scott and a still-to-be-determined receiving corps.

Beatty also coached Moore when he played at Maryland from 2016-17, so there’s definitely a familiarity there. Beatty will also be tasked with developing some young talent, especially if the Bears draft a rookie to pair with Moore.

When Luke Getsy was fired as offensive coordinator, not all of his staff was fired. Chicago retained tight ends coach Jim Dray and offensive line coach Chris Morgan. Now, the Bears still need to find a new running backs coach.

Why Chris Beatty could be next Chargers offensive coordinator

The Chargers will have an interesting field of candidates for 2024 OC if Kellen Moore leaves. Could Chris Beatty receive interest?

Kellen Moore takes over as offensive coordinator for the Chargers in 2023 after Joe Lombardi’s offense faltered in last season’s campaign. However, one has to wonder just how long Moore will stick around in LA. In previous seasons, he’s taken head coaching interviews and is generally viewed as one of the young up-and-coming minds in the league.

Prior to taking the Chargers’ job this offseason, Moore interviewed for the Panthers’ head coaching gig before it was given to Frank Reich. Assuming he’s successful with Justin Herbert, the career trajectory for Moore ultimately points up toward a head coaching job.

In replacing him for 2024, the Chargers probably commit to an extensive search to find the best candidate. But there are some in-house coaches that make sense to potentially take over. Passing game specialist Tom Arth or quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier may have the first shots at a promotion.

Another potential candidate could be Chargers’ assistant coach Chris Beatty. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper wrote a thorough profile on the LA Chargers’ wide receivers coach earlier this week.

In 2021, Beatty made a pitch to wide receiver Mike Williams and Lombardi that the former Clemson product could grow his route tree to have a career year: As more slants and leverage routes were called for Williams, his stats increased. 2021 was a career year for Williams. In the 2022 offseason, the Chargers re-signed him to a three-year, $60 million extension.

It’s hard to ignore the work Beatty has done with the receiver room, even in suboptimal circumstances. As the aforementioned Williams was in and out of the lineup with injuries in 2022, Beatty had to rely on veteran journeyman DeAndre Carter to buoy the positional group. Carter had 538 receiving yards in 2022 after he never previously had a season with even 300 yards. Beatty has also gotten the best performances out of college wide receivers he’s coached such as DJ Moore and Jordan Addison.

Beatty aspires to have another primary play-calling job again for the first time in over 10 years. Per Popper’s article, Beatty did an interview at one point to be Kevin O’Connell’s offensive coordinator in Minnesota. Working with a trio of Keenan Allen, Quentin Johnston, and the aforementioned Williams could continue to bolster his resume for when the time comes to interview again.

Connect the dots: Chargers’ coaching staff links to 2023 NFL draft prospects

These Chargers coaches have directly coached or recruited at least one 2023 prospect.

As the NFL continues to hire assistant coaches from the college ranks, familiarity with prospects is at an all-time high.

Some coaches and front office members just have schools they like: general manager Tom Telesco favors Notre Dame, head coach Brandon Staley likes Georgia, etc.

But other members of the Chargers staff have experience with a number of prospects in this year’s class, and connections could drive a potential selection in April’s draft.

These Chargers coaches have directly coached or recruited at least one 2023 prospect.

Chargers receivers coach Chris Beatty interviewing for Vikings OC job

Kevin O’Connell adds another OC candidate to the list.

Add Los Angeles Chargers receivers coach Chris Beatty to the growing list of names trying to nab the vacant offensive coordinator position for the Minnesota Vikings.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero is reporting Beatty will be interviewing for the job on Saturday.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell had his introductory press conference on Thursday, and he was adamant about getting to work quickly and putting the finishing touches on his coaching staff.

Along with Beatty, Los Angeles Rams tight ends coach/pass game coordinator Wes Phillips and Rams running backs coach/assistant head coach Thomas Brown have also been linked to the job.

Beatty just completed his first NFL season as an assistant coach following a two-year stint at the University of Pittsburgh. However, his coaching career spans 24 years—all the way back to his days coaching at North Stafford High School in Virginia.

O’Connell made it clear during his press conference that he would be the one calling the offensive plays for the team.

“Yes, I do plan on calling the [offensive] plays. My career as a player provided a great platform for me as a coach because I did spend a lot of time watching games from the sideline,” O’Connell said. “But I will say with that comes the ability to see the game in a way that I feel very prepared to call the game.”

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Report: Chargers hiring Chris Beatty as wide receivers coach

The Los Angeles Chargers have a new wide receivers coach.

The Chargers’ coaching staff continues to take shape.

Los Angeles is hiring former University of Pittsburgh wide receivers coach Chris Beatty in the same position, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Beatty worked with head coach Brandon Staley at Northern Illinois in 2007. He also reunites with recently hired defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill, who was a defensive backs coach at Pitt for three seasons.

This is the first time Beatty has coached at the NFL level. Before coming to Pitt, he was wide receivers coach, co-offensive coordinator and associate head coach at Maryland for three seasons. He was also an assistant at Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Vanderbilt, West Virginia and Northern Illinois.

Beatty has coached the likes of Percy Harvin, Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin and Jordan Matthews.