Caleb Williams Reportedly Hated Shane Waldron Before They Even Met

We all know the story by now. Caleb Williams was reluctant to get drafted by the Chicago Bears. They have one of the ugliest histories at the position in the NFL. His own father described it as the place where QBs go to die. It is hard to argue with that assessment if you've watched the past 40 years of Bears football. Still, Williams decided to embrace the challenge anyway. He felt that if he could defy the odds, he'd build a legacy nobody else has. The Bears thought they had a good plan in place, headlined by experienced offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who'd helped Geno Smith ascend in Seattle.

As it turns out, Waldron was one of the reasons Williams didn't want to come to Chicago. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN revealed a new wrinkle to the story. Apparently, the quarterback did lots of research on the Bears' offensive staff going into the draft. Tons of red flags were raised about Waldron.

A source with direct knowledge of Williams' predraft process said Williams' fact-finding mission about his new team soured him on Waldron, who was the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator before joining Chicago in January 2024. Among chief concerns, the source said, were whether personalities would jell and how Waldron would use him.

"Whoever he talked to in Seattle didn't give him the best reviews," the source said. Waldron, now on Jacksonville's staff, declined to comment for this story.

That begs the obvious question. If Williams came up with these details on his own during the lead-up to the draft, how in the hell did it slip past Matt Eberflus when he was looking for a new offensive coordinator?

Caleb Williams was at the mercy of Eberflus' ignorance.

I reached out to a source regarding the situation. It turns out that former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who sold Eberflus on Waldron. This was despite the team's gathered evidence that Seattle players hated the former offensive coordinator. Even Waldron himself mentioned that issue. Geno Smith's success was the primary thing that pushed it over the finish line. Waldron got most of the credit for that, which many believe was mistaken. What followed was 11 games of almost pure misery for Caleb Williams. Waldron was clearly in over his head trying to develop a rookie quarterback, not crafting a proper plan or providing the necessary discipline young players need. He was fired midseason, and Eberflus followed not long after. It is crazy to think Williams saw all of it coming from the start.