Shane Waldron is officially the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. The team announced that they hired Waldron to take over for Luke Getsy on Tuesday.
“We are excited to add Shane to our coaching staff,” said head coach Matt Eberflus in a statement. “I also want to thank all the candidates we spoke to throughout the interview process. This was a very exhaustive search, but in the end I’m grateful the journey led us to Shane. He is a great teacher and communicator with a diverse coaching background among some of the game’s most elite head coaches. I look forward to partnering with him as we build out the rest of the staff and get him started here.”
“I appreciate this opportunity given to me by Coach Eberflus and Ryan Poles,” said Waldron in a statement. “We can’t wait to get to work at a franchise with such a storied history and passionate fan base.“
Waldron is 44 years old with 19 years of coaching experience, including 10 years at the NFL level. Waldron spent the last three seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, where he also worked as the offensive playcaller. Before that, he spent four seasons working under Sean McVay with the Rams. Waldron started in Los Angeles as a tight ends coach, then became a passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
There’s a good chance the Bears offense under Waldron looks similar to how it looked under Getsy. Waldron comes from a Shanahan tree offshoot, like Getsy. Accordingly, it leans on a strong run game to open up opportunities in the pass game.
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.
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