Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff Writer January 22, 2024, 8:27 a.m. ET
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- Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017 and originally covered the Minnesota Vikings before moving to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts the Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked as a multimedia sportswriter at the San Jose Mercury News.
CHICAGO – The Chicago Bears are finalizing a deal to make Shane Waldron their next offensive coordinator, a source confirms to ESPN.
Waldron, 44, was the first of nine reported candidates the Bears asked to interview after they fired former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and four members of the offensive staff on Jan. 10. He comes to Chicago after spending the last three seasons as the Bears' offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks.
Waldron began his NFL coaching career in 2008 as an offensive quality control coach with New England and later served as the Patriots' tight ends coach. After stints in the United Football League and at UMass, Waldron returned to the NFL with Washington in 2016 before spending four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, where he coached tight ends (2017) and quarterbacks (2019) and served as passing game coordinator.
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Including Waldron, Chicago interviewed four offensive coordinator candidates who coached under Sean McVay. Other candidates from the McVay coaching staff included Liam Coen, Thomas Brown and Zac Robinson.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported Sunday that the Bears had also requested an interview with Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who was blocked by Los Angeles after interviewing for the head coaching job last week.
Waldron brings three seasons of playing experience to Chicago. He became Seattle's offensive coordinator during Russell Wilson's final season with the Seahawks in 2021 and coached Geno Smith to his best season the following season, when the quarterback ranked first in completion percentage (69.8), fourth in touchdowns ( 30) and fifth in passer rating (100.9), seventh in QBR (62.8) and eighth in passing yards (4,282).
Seattle's offense ranked 17th in points per game (21.4) and 21st in yards per game (322.9) in 2023. The Bears ranked 18th (21.2) and 20th (232.2) in those categories, respectively.
Chicago's offensive imbalance between leading the league's second-highest rushing offense and ranking 27th in passing was the catalyst for the Bears' move away from Getsy after two seasons.
“Obviously you want to have someone who is a great teacher,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said when asked what the team is looking for in its next offensive coordinator. “I think that’s important because you know he has to coach the coaches to coach the position. And I think that's the most important quality of any great coach. You have to be able to have the innovation to really look at the players that you need. “You have and can help improve these guys and put them in a position to be successful, to get explosives and move the ball across the field. That's the most important thing in my opinion, the teacher part and then the innovation part is part of it and the creativity I think is going to be the biggest part of it.”
Waldron will arrive in Chicago during a crucial offseason that will determine the organization's quarterback decision. Over the next three months, the team must decide whether to use the first overall pick on USC's Caleb Williams or another rookie or move forward with quarterback Justin Fields, who is entering his fourth season.
During his season-ending press conference on Jan. 10, general manager Ryan Poles said he didn't believe the team needed complete clarity on what direction it would take at quarterback when interviewing offensive coordinator candidates.
“No, I love it because you have to. “What are you going to do for these four different types of quarterbacks?” said the Poles. “That's what I want to hear, and it's really important to see the versatility and adaptability of their teaching and the way they implement a plan, a scheme and an adjustment. I think that actually makes the interview process quite dynamic.”
News of Waldron's hiring was first reported by NFL Network.