New Bears OC Scheming for Flexibility

Shane Waldron says his offense will work whether the Bears run it with Justin fields at quarterback or a drafted QB to be named later, presumably Caleb Williams.

It's not going to satisify everyone who wants to know what the team is doing at quarterback but the goal of their new offensive coordinator is to meet coach Matt Eberflus' demands. Those had been stated previously, but the Bears coach, sporting a new beard at a press conference to introduce his two new coordinators Thursday, reminded all what it is he wants to see happen.

"You want to be creative and you want to be curious to make the scheme go and make it go with the skill set that we have," Eberflus said. "That's important on offense and defense."

And specifically on offense it's about something especially important.

"About being adaptable—you've gotta be able to adapt during the course of the season," Eberflus said. "You're going to have injuries at times. You're going to have different skill sets in there.

"In-game adaptability—you've gotta have in-game tactics. That's an important part during the process of hiring the coordinators, and obviously being a leader."

There are those who would argue former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy struggled here last season, after many starts to games were exactly as drawn up on paper.

Waldron definitely adapted to talent in Seattle and brought his quarterback to a different level. He went from Russell Wilson to Geno Smith and got the journeyman's passer rating over 97 for four seasons on average after he hadn't been over 88 for any season in his career.

"Yeah, I think you know my experience with Geno was unbelievable," Waldron said. "It started with him as a player--and I think you talk in terms of what guys can learn from him—was a unique ability to have a positive mindset no matter what the scenario was. When I got a chance to start working with him, you know, there was an unwavering mindsest that he was a starting quarterback in the NFL which I think is a part of the thought process that every quarterback and every player in this league is going to have.

"And so to get lucky enough to work with a guy like that, who had that mindset and then to be able to start to develop that relationship with him, that rapport, where we can get into game day and feel like, hey, we're on exactly the same page with on everything that's going on, I think that was something that I would take from that moment with him."

Building a relationship with the quarterback is going to be important.

"Not to say that everyone is going to have the exact same relationship with every single player but again I think having that understanding of their why and, like I said, seeing Geno, how he worked and how he was totally dialed in no matter what the scenario was, whether he was going to be the starter that week or whether he was the backup, you know, that was unwavering. And his confidence."

If he's going to build that type of relationship with Justin Fields, it's going to have to come later. The only contact he said he has had with the current Bears quarterback is a few messages, presumably through text.

It doesn't matter, though. Waldron says if it's Fields or another quarterback the relationships and his scheme, especially, can help the offense succeed.

"I totally believe that," he said. "I think in the past experiences like I said, with different quarterbacks, different experience levels, whether I was in the coordinator role or in a role as a position coach, I felt that way.

"I felt different quarterbacks have been able to step foot into the system, be able to learn it quickly and that starts with us being able to teach it in a good and efficient manner where they understand it and then being able to go, and again, just because each guy's gonna have a different skill set. So what direction does it go? The players really take ownership and control of that."

The ability to adapt was central to his discussion with Eberflus at the interview level.

"A lot of our conversation revolved around not just the quarterback position—that's the starting point on offense," Waldron said. "But how does that look for every position as a team, and as teams adapt each year and players adapt each year?"

Waldron called having a chance to coach with the team that gets to draft first a part of what drew him to the Bears.

"Having a unique scenario like this, where you have the first pick and the ninth pick in the draft, to get a chance to be a part of an organization as storied as this one is, I think all of those things go into it," he said of coming to the Bears. "And like I said, when the season ends, every season is its own entity. You're not saying 'I'm anticipating what's about to happen,' and next thing you know, here you go, you're in the interview process. Like I said, it just felt very comfortable very quickly with meeting those guys.

"And then obviously having that piece of the draft puzzle where you get a chance to evaluate so many top players around the college game with those two high picks, made it totally appealing."

Whoever his quarterback is, Waldron thinks they'll find his offense a place in which to thrive.

"For me, having a system that's speaking the same language, that's multiple in the ways it can attack a defense, then you start to get the players and start to know what your personnel is going to look like that season," he said. "Then you build it around a player’s skillset.

"I think, for me, that's been a part of my core beliefs. I feel like it's worked out well with the different quarterbacks I've had a chance to be around the last couple years."

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