New Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has begun to put his coaching staff together following his hire on Thursday. Eberflus has served as the Indianapolis Colts' defensive coordinator since 2018, with the Colts defense consistently being a top-10 unit in the league during that time. Chicago's new head coach must now focus on building a successful offense as previous Bears' head coaches with a defensive background have failed to do so during their tenures.

Previous Bears' Head Coaches Lost Their Jobs Due To Their Offensive Failures

Since Chicago last won the Super Bowl in 1985, there have been two consistent issues that have plagued the Bears' franchise, which include inabilities to develop an elite quarterback and develop a top-ranked offense. In the last 30 years, The Bears have had only one season in which their offense ranked in the top-10 of most offensive categories with a head coach that had a defensive background. Following Mike Ditka's firing in 1992, the Bears have hired four head coaches who had previously served as defensive coordinators before becoming a head coach. Those head coaches included Dave Wannstedt, Dick Jauron, Lovie Smith, and John Fox. None of Chicago's coaches could successfully build offenses during their tenures with the Bears. Only Wannstedt had a top-10 offense as the 1995 Bears ranked eighth in total offense. https://youtu.be/2xw8A8Bpl34 A few of these head coaches had a first-round quarterback to work with during their first season in the role. In Jauron's first season with Chicago, the team drafted UCLA quarterback Cade McNown in the first round, while in Lovie's first season of 2004, the Bears had already drafted Rex Grossman in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Both of Chicago's coaches failed significantly to develop their young quarterbacks into elite-level talents, despite deploying different development methods. To make matters worse, none of the head coaches could identify a proven offensive mind as all four coaches would have to hire multiple offensive coordinators during their head coaching careers with the Bears. Jauron, Smith, and Fox all had to replace their offensive coordinators within the first two seasons of their tenures with Chicago either due to their initial coordinator being fired or because they took a different job. The only good situation in which a coordinator left was with Adam Gase in 2015. Gase was hired by the Dolphins as a head coach following the 2015 season due to quarterback Jay Cutler having the best season of his career. Although these head coaches built quality defenses for the Bears during their tenures, their ultimate downfall would be their struggles to develop an offense. Smith is a prime example as he had a Super Bowl-caliber defense during his Bears' career but missed several playoff opportunities and lost playoff games, including Super Bowl 41, due to a poor offense. During Smith's time as Bears' head coach, he would hire four different offensive coordinators over nine years.

Eberflus Appears To Have A Plan In Place To Ensure Offensive Success

In Eberflus' first few days as Bears' head coach, it appears that he has a vision of how he wants to build his offense around quarterback Justin Fields. Over the last few days, multiple sources have linked Chicago to several intriguing offensive coaches to join the new coaching staff. Offensive coaches Pep Hamilton and Luke Getsy are currently rumored to have received interest from Eberflus to join the offensive coaching staff for the Bears. Hamilton is a proven offensive coach at both the NFL and college-level as he has served as either an offensive coordinator, passing coordinator, or quarterbacks coach since 2006. He has helped develop several young quarterbacks, including Andrew Luck, Justin Herbert, and Davis Mills. The ability to develop quarterbacks is important as Hamilton would be a proven coach that can oversee Fields heading into his second season for the Bears.

Getsy also has experience coaching both at the NFL and college level as he was on the Packers' offensive staff, starting in 2014. He has served as Green Bay's quarterbacks' coach and passing game coordinator the last two seasons, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been named an All-Pro, to the Pro Bowl while also receiving MVP honors for the 2020 season. Rodgers has spoken highly of Getsy's recent work with the Packers, especially this season.

Having the potential to have multiple proven offensive minds on the offensive coaching staff is a significant move by Eberflus. This allows the offense not to be tied to just one coach and allows multiple people to help devise a strategy on the best way to develop Fields, which is the most vital task if the Bears want to be consistently successful for the next several years. Although no one has yet to join the offensive staff, Eberflus appears to understand the importance of getting Chicago's offense correct, something his predecessors failed to do.