Report: Chicago Bears OC candidates were turned off by 'instability' of Matt Eberflus' staff

The Bears hired Shane Waldron as their offensive coordinator. Waldron had success with the 2022 Seattle Seahawks. However, Waldon isn’t a sexy household name one would have expected the Bears to try and land in a year they can draft the top quarterback prospect in the draft.

Per Albert Breer with Sports Illustrated, most of the team's candidates for offensive coordinator candidates were drawn to the vacant position by the prospect they could potentially coach Caleb Williams next season. But there was another reason those same candidates had pause.

Matt Eberflus’ instability was a turn-off to potential hires

Biggs responded to a fan question about why former Seahawks wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal removed himself from contention to join Waldron’s staff in Chicago. Biggs wrote that while he didn’t know Lal’s specific situation, he heard from multiple sources that coaches were turned off by Eberflus potentially being a lame-duck head coach, coupled with the team’s uncertainty at quarterback.

"The former Seattle Seahawks wide receivers coach was a candidate to join the Bears, and his addition would have made sense as he has worked with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Lal reportedly removed himself from consideration for the job. What went into that decision, I don’t know. ... I can tell you that after speaking with a wide variety of coaches around the league," Biggs wrote, "some folks have concern that it might not be the most stable position with Matt Eberflus entering Year 3 and an uncertain quarterback situation. Assistants seeking work might prefer to hitch their wagon to a head coach entering Year 1."

The front office took a risk by retaining Eberflus

Biggs’ answer makes one wonder if Waldron was the Bears’ top choice at offensive coordinator. General manager Ryan Poles and president Kevin Warren made a risky decision to keep Eberflus for this very reason.

They knew it would be more difficult to attract talented assistants this offseason because of Eberflus’ win-loss record in his first two seasons. This scenario was talked about in the end-of-season news conference.

It will be interesting to see if the Bears’ quarterback situation will be further damaged by Poles and Warren’s decision to keep Eberflus. If the team drafts a rookie quarterback, one would assume they’re giving Eberflus more than one year. But a disastrous 2024-25 season akin to the start of the 2023-24 campaign could put an end to their grace for his regime.