Ahead of the Bears’ seminal quarterback decision, they will have a new play-caller. The team is firing two-year offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.
Should Matt Eberflus return as he is tentatively expected to, he will need to hire two new coordinators. Eberflus called defensive signals following Alan Williams‘ early-season exit. The Bears are also moving on from quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, per Pelissero.
It does indeed appear that Eberflus will be back. After Ryan Poles praised the job Eberflus did in his second season, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports the defensive-oriented HC is set to stay for a third year.
The former Colts DC is expected to remain the Bears' defensive play-caller, per Rapoport, though the early expectation is Eberflus hiring a DC to at least be a key voice in game-planning.
“He was steady at the wheel,” Poles said of Eberflus, via the Chicago Sun-Times’ Patrick Finley. “He fought to get back above water and get things the way they were. His ability to adapt and adjust, really take input from the players, to get this thing on the right path was incredible. I think a lot of people would have been in really bad shape and crumbled to the pressure. He got better with the pressure, and so did our football team.”
The Bears evaluated their staff over the past two days, and although Eberflus hovered on a hot seat early this season, the Bears rallying to finish 7-10 represented progress after a lengthy losing streak spanned from the second half of last season through October 2023. As the calendar turned to 2024, Eberflus was not expected to be fired.
Chicago improved from 29th to 12th in total defense from 2022-23 and from 32nd to 20th in points allowed in Eberflus’ second season. The Bears hired Eberflus with the intention he would be a CEO coach, rather than the play-caller, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets.
Wearing both hats this season, Eberflus did make strides. It will be interesting to see if the Bears stick with Eberflus as their defensive play-caller. Despite a 3-14 debut season and a 1-5 start to the ’23 campaign, the veteran defensive coach has survived.
But Getsy, Janocko and, per ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert will not join Poles and Eberflus next season. Despite improvement from Justin Fields and a career-best season from trade acquisition D.J. Moore, the Bears are removing the top pieces from their offensive equation.
They have been viewed as a bit more likely to trade Fields and use the No. 1 overall pick on USC’s Caleb Williams, though definitive traction in either direction remains elusive. But Fields is close to becoming a more expensive commodity, while Williams would be tethered to a rookie contract for at least three years.
Chicago’s offense improved from 28th to 20th in yardage and from 23rd to 18th in scoring over Getsy’s two seasons, though the ex-Packers assistant remained in the crosshairs.
A change at this juncture would point to the Bears leaning toward making the long-rumored move to trade Fields and start over with a higher-ceiling rookie. This was Getsy’s first OC gig; he had previously served as Aaron Rodgers‘ QB coach.
Thanks largely to Fields’ gifts as a runner, the Bears led the NFL in rushing in 2022 and finished second this season. The latter ranking came despite the Ohio State alum missing four games due to injury.
No single Bears rusher totaled more than 700 yards, however, and only Khalil Herbert topped 500 among the team’s three-headed running back arrangement. WR2 Darnell Mooney (414 yards) also did not make much of an impact in his fourth season, despite the former fifth-round pick being a previous 1,000-yard receiver.
Janocko, 35, came to Chicago after seven seasons in Minnesota. While Janocko spent his entire NFL career with the Vikings, he only coached quarterbacks in one of those seasons (2021).
Tolbert, conversely, has been a specialist throughout his career. The 56-year-old assistant has coached wide receivers for six teams since 2003. He was on the Cardinals staff when Anquan Boldin broke through as a rookie, and Tolbert later coached Demaryius Thomas for seven seasons in Denver, collecting a Super Bowl ring for the latter stay. The Bears hired him after four seasons with the Giants.
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