The Chicago Bears' 2024 season will feature a new offensive coaching staff with head coach Matt Eberflus returning for a third season.
The Bears announced on Wednesday that Eberflus will be returning as the team's head coach next season but offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has been fired along with other offensive staff members. One of those firings is the dismissal of quarterback's coach Andrew Janocko.
Janocko was brought onto the Bears' coaching staff in 2022 after Getsy was named the team's offensive coordinator. While it was clear since Janocko's hiring that he was aligned with Getsy, Fields has previously spoken highly of his work with his now-former quarterback's coach.
Now that the Bears have decided to bring in an entirely new offensive coaching staff, the focus is now on what the team will do at the quarterback position.
If the Bears were strictly bringing in a new offensive coordinator while retaining Janocko as the team's quarterbacks coach, that would be a clear sign that Fields would be returning as the starting quarterback for the 2024 season. Under that scenario, Janocko would serve as the bridge between Fields and the team's new offensive coaching staff.
Instead, the Bears are opting to move forward with what will be an entirely new offensive scheme with new voices. That would seem problematic for Fields.
If the Bears forgo the opportunity to select Caleb Williams or Drake Maye with the first overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft and they want to give one final opportunity to Fields, this would not be a great start. In that world, the Bears would be asking Fields to learn an entirely new offensive system with no familiarity with what he's previously run the past two seasons. It's very rare, especially for a team with the history that the Bears have, that an offensive coordinator has success immediately at the start of his first season with the team.
If anything, the firing of Janocko and the idea of a brand new offensive direction may suggest that the offensive reset will include a change at the quarterback position.