Tag: shane waldron

Bears OC Shane Waldron already working on filling out his staff

New Bears OC Shane Waldron is already setting up interviews with Seahawks coaches as he fills out his offensive staff.

The Chicago Bears have found their new offensive coordinator in former Seattle Seahawks OC Shane Waldron, and he’s wasting no time filling out his offensive coaching staff.

According to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, Waldron is setting up interviews with some former Seahawks co-workers and coaches — Chad Morton, Sanjay Lal and Kerry Joseph, among others — for staff positions.

Morton served as the Seahawks run game coordinator and running backs coach; Lal served as Seattle’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach; and Joseph has served as the Seahawks’ assistant wide receivers coach and later assistant quarterbacks coach under Waldron.

The assumption is those candidates would serve in the same roles: Morton as running backs coach (potentially also run game coordinator), Lal as wide receivers coach (potentially also pass game coordinator) and Joseph as quarterbacks coach or assistant quarterbacks coach.

The Bears also interviewed Seahawks quarterbacks coach Greg Olson for their offensive coordinator vacancy. There’s no word if Olson would following Waldron to Chicago in the same role (perhaps with a passing game coordinator promotion).

But Olson will likely explore the potential of joining another team as their offensive coordinator, especially with so many openings around the NFL.

Chicago Bears close in on new offensive coordinator — what does this mean for Caleb Williams?

There is no clear consensus on what the Bears are going to do after hiring a new offensive coordinator.

We are all trying to read between the lines and figure out if the Chicago Bears are going to keep or trade the top pick in the 2024 NFL draft. This decision will determine where Caleb Williams begins his NFL career.

The Bears appear ready to hire Shane Waldron as their offensive coordinator. As of Monday night, they are still in the process of finalizing an agreement, meaning the hire is not yet official, but everyone expects this deal to be completed before too long.

Bears Wire has more:

“According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Bears are working towards a deal to hire former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron as their new OC. He replaces Luke Getsy, who was fired after two seasons.

“Head coach Matt Eberflus informed other candidates of his decision last night, according to Albert Breer. “Waldron was in the mix for a number of coordinator jobs, so Chicago’s ability to move swiftly and efficiently through its process was key.”

Whether this means the Bears will take Caleb Williams or trade their No. 1 pick and surround Justin Fields with assets remains unclear. There is no widespread consensus in NFL circles that this clearly points in one direction or another. We will just have to stay tuned and look for more clues. Whether we will get them before late April is unknown.

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Rams QB coach Zac Robinson interviewed for Saints offensive coordinator job

Rams quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator Zac Robinson has a busy schedule, but he made time to interview for the Saints OC opening:

Los Angeles Rams quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator Zac Robinson has a busy schedule, but he made time to interview for the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator opening, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. So far, the Saints have interviewed all four candidates they’ve requested time with in this year’s hiring cycle.

Robinson has had a lot of offers hit his inbox. The MMQB’s Albert Breer reports that he previously interviewed with the Chicago Bears (before they hired Shane Waldron, another Saints target, for the same job) and he has a meeting scheduled Tuesday with the New England Patriots — with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders both requesting interviews of their own.

Why so much interest? Robinson has worked closely with Rams head coach Sean McVay during the last five years, starting out as the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019 and climbing the ladder to his current position. He’s coached both quarterbacks and wide receivers for L.A. and while he hasn’t called plays, he has learned from one of the best. He’s in high demand. Let’s see if the Saints can land him.

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7 realistic OC candidates the Eagles can target after parting ways with Brian Johnson

We’re looking at seven realistic candidates who could replace Brian Johnson as Offensive Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles

After a late-season meltdown that saw the Eagles go 1-6 in their final seven games, including the playoffs, the head coach is on the hot seat, and his assistant coaches are all expected to depart. 

Philadelphia’s third-year head coach has far exceeded expectations, but it’s clear that Johnson Gannon and Shane Steichen played far more significant roles than we thought.

The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane reports that offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, 36, won’t return after one season as the player-caller that saw him oversee the NFL’s No. 8-ranked unit but struggling to get consistent results during a late-season slide that included a blowout playoff loss to the Buccaneers.

Johnson recently interviewed for two different head coaching jobs — with the Falcons and Titans — but is expected to leave the Eagles regardless, per Derrick Gunn, likely landing “elsewhere in some offensive capacity.”

With things starting to heat up, we’re looking at seven realistic options for an offensive coordinator.

Titans head coach news could have big ripple effects for Saints

Bengals QB coach Dan Pitcher has an interview scheduled with the Saints, but another opportunity just opened up with the Titans hiring Brian Callahan as head coach:

Every head coach change in the NFL creates ripple effects that are felt by other teams around the league, and the Tennessee Titans’ decision is a good example of that. The Titans are hiring Brian Callahan as their next head coach — and that move could hurt the New Orleans Saints’ own personnel plans for 2024.

Callahan previously worked as the Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator, and the Bengals have an obvious candidate to replace him already on staff in quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher. The problem for the Saints is that Pitcher is on their list of candidates to interview for their own offensive coordinator opening. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Pitcher already scheduled an in-person interview with the Saints for Thursday after meeting with a few other teams. He’s already spoken with the Saints in an introductory virtual interview per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill.

But that second sit-down interview may never come to pass if Pitcher would rather stay in Cincinnati and take a promotion (or follow Callahan to Tennessee). It’s too soon to say whether that’s actually going to happen. At the same time, it’s a very realistic possibility.

And that’s a tough break for New Orleans. They swung at a couple of high-profile candidates and haven’t yet made contact. Shane Waldron is joining the Chicago Bears. Jerrod Johnson interviewed with the Saints on Monday, but not even getting a chance to speak with Pitcher in person would be disappointing. Hopefully Pitcher sticks to his commitments and gives the Saints a fair shot. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Bears fans couldn’t determine what Shane Waldron’s OC hire meant for Justin Fields’ future

Shane Waldron is now the most important person in the Bears’ organization.

After successfully revitalizing Geno Smith’s career, Shane Waldron was understandably one of the hottest offensive coordinators on the NFL coaching market. With Waldron at the helm, the Seattle Seahawks were No. 7, No. 11, and No. 13 in DVOA offensive efficiency in each of the last three seasons, respectively. Convincing him to coach for any team likely meant giving him a full blessing to do whatever he pleases with his personnel and his scheme.

Enter the Chicago Bears and what once again might be the most fascinating quarterback conundrum of the NFL offseason. Armed with the No. 1 overall pick (courtesy of the Carolina Panthers), the Bears and Waldron now have a multitude of options available to them.

One Waldron idea would be to keep Justin Fields, hope he continues progressing in the fourth year of his career, and trade down for another massive haul of draft capital and players. It’s not a bad idea, considering Chicago has the No. 1 overall pick and All-Pro caliber receiver D.J. Moore specifically because it traded down from the top selection last spring. Running that set-up back for a quarterback could set up the Bears with a litany of superstar, franchise-changing talent.

The other main path is trading Fields away to a team willing to build around his talents (and pay him) before drafting one of Southern California’s Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. While the Bears are undoubtedly at fault for much of his shortcomings, Fields’ progression has been disappointing three years into his career, calling into question whether it’s even worth trying to continue building around him when there are two surefire “clean slate” passing prospects now available to them.

Ever since a smashing Heisman campaign in 2022, Williams has long been regarded as the Next Big Thing in pro football. Considering most young quarterbacks play for terrible teams with little talent or infrastructure, Williams would benefit from the exception. He’d get the pleasure of developing with a merely mediocre Bears team on the ascent while getting coached up by a respected rising offensive mind like Waldron. Maye doesn’t have nearly the same hype, but most of the same sentiments would apply to him in Chicago, too.

Of course, there’s also this note about Waldron. He shares an agent with Bears general manager Ryan Poles, head coach Matt Eberflus, and Williams’ USC coach Lincoln Riley. It might not necessarily mean anything, but the connections are there:

Only time will tell how the Bears proceed with their quarterback situation for the future. Whatever one thinks about Waldron and their plans probably … just confirms your priors.

Report: Zac Robinson was runner-up for Bears offensive coordinator job

The Bears are hiring Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator. But the runner-up was fellow Sean McVay disciple, Zac Robinson.

The Chicago Bears are finalizing a deal to make Shane Waldron their new offensive coordinator. Waldron most recently served as Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator from 2021-23.

The Bears cast a wide net in their offensive coordinator search, where there were nine candidates that were known. Now, it sounds like we know who else was a strong contender for the job.

According to 670 the Score’s Shane Riordan, Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson was the runner-up to Waldron.

Waldron and Robinson have something in common: They both hail from the Sean McVay tree. So it’s clear Chicago has a type.

Waldron served as an offensive quality control coach in Washington while McVay served as offensive coordinator in 2016. Waldron then followed McVay to the Rams, where he worked his way up from tight ends coach to passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach during a four-year span before taking an offensive coordinator job with the Seahawks in 2021.

Robinson has spent his entire coaching career with McVay in Los Angeles, where he got his start as an assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019. He also served as an assistant wide receivers coach before being promoted to pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Bears reach out to Robinson for their quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator. Especially considering Waldron and Robinson coached together under McVay for a couple of seasons with the Rams. Although, it would be considered a lateral move, as that’s his current role in Los Angeles.

Seahawks fans react to news OC Shane Waldron is leaving for Chicago

Let’s see how Seattle fans are taking the news…

Shane Waldron is on his way out. This morning NFL Network reported that the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator is leaving town and will be taking the same position with the Chicago Bears.

Waldron has a good mind for designing plays and has helped Geno Smith develop into a top-10 quarterback. However, the results on the field had also been somewhat disappointing. If Waldron had gotten the most juice out of his talent as he could have this season, he’d been in the mix for head coach interviews right now – not making a lateral move as OC. The hard truth is the offense underperformed in 2023, especially on third down and in the red zone.

At the end of the regular season, they ranked a perfectly-average No. 17 in points per game, which is far below their potential even with the offensive line issues. Let’s see how Seattle fans are taking the news…

Seahawks trade down twice, go Washington-heavy in this 2024 NFL mock draft

Bears closing in on deal with Saints OC target Shane Waldron

The Bears are closing in on a deal with Saints offensive coordinator target Shane Waldron, taking their best-qualified candidate off the board:

This is a tough blow: the Chicago Bears are expected to hire former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, a top candidate in the New Orleans Saints’ search for their next play caller. Pens haven’t been put to paper but multiple reports suggest that final formality is in the works. Waldron is off the market.

Waldron was the best-qualified candidate the Saints reached out to interview in recent days given his success in Seattle and proximity to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay (who Waldron worked under from 2017 to 2020, before being hired away by the Seahawks).

It makes sense that he wanted to go to Chicago, where he’ll have the ability to tailor his offense to Justin Fields or share input on which rookie quarterback prospect the Bears should pick with the first overall pick in the 2024 draft. That’s a more appealing opportunity than trying to sustain Derek Carr’s strong finish to the 2023 season after an embarrassingly poor start.

He was also the oldest at 44; the other candidates the Saints are reportedly pursuing are between 37 and 35 years old. So now the Saints will pivot to those other options and maybe consider more people from outside the building. Stay tuned.

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Bears working towards hiring Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron as OC

We now have word of the first assistant to leave Seattle.

After Pete Carroll was removed as the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach a couple weeks ago, it was reported that the team’s assistant coaches would be free to seek other jobs around the NFL. We now have word of the first assistant to leave Seattle.

According to a report by Tom Pelissero at NFL Network, the Chicago Bears are working towards hiring Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron for the same position with their team. Waldron had been the offensive coordinator in Seattle over the last three seasons. Before that, he spent several years on Sean McVay’s staff with the Los Angeles Rams.

The wording of the report means it’s not official yet, but there’s no reason to believe it won’t be announced soon so we’ll assume he’s leaving. Waldron won’t have nearly as much talent to work with in Chicago as he head in Seattle. However, Justin Fields’ ceiling remains about as high as any young quarterback in the league. The right playcaller and a better supporting cast could unlock Fields’ full potential – which the Bears haven’t even come close to yet.

Then again, they might decide to start over with a different QB – Chicago holds the No. 1 overall pick in the draft this year. USC quarterback Caleb Williams has been the presumptive top overall pick for several months.

As for who might replace Waldron, there’s really no way to know until the Seahawks hire their new head coach. They’ve begun the second round of interviews with five candidates, most of whom are defensive-minded coaches.

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