The Chicago Bears decided to fire offensive coordinator Luke Getsy while retaining head coach Matt Eberflus. This decision puts a lot of confidence in Eberflus because this is an impactful offseason, considering the Bears have the number one overall pick.
Giving Eberflus control of the team in this way should mean that he is going to have a pretty big say in how he rebuilds the offensive staff. Which up-and-coming coaches are the best offensive coordinator options for the Bears while also having a connection to Matt Eberflus?
4. The Chicago Bears could hire Marcus Brady as their offensive coordinator
Marcus Brady is a name that should be brought up often in the coming weeks. Brady is currently a senior offensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles, so the closest thing to be an offensive coordinator without being one.
Brady has been with the Eagles for two seasons, so his success around an offense involving Jalen Hurts has to be brought up. Also, he coached under Nick Siranni for the past two years, and Sirianni once worked in Kansas City with Ryan Poles.
More than that, Sirianni worked with the Indianapolis Colts when Marcus Brady was there back in 2018. Brady came in as the assistant quarterback coach and moved up to quarterback coach in 2019. Brady took over as the Colts offensive coordinator when Sirianni left in 2021.
With the Colts' coaching staff changes, he just rejoined Sirianni. Still, during the same time he was in the Colts building with Sirianni, he was in there with Matt Eberflus as well.
Brady spent four years with Matt Eberflus. He is qualified to be an offensive coordinator and has experience, but he is currently not an offensive coordinator, so the job would be appealing. The ability to work with a mobile quarterback in recent years is a big plus as well and makes him a top-notch candidate.
3. The Chicago Bears could be interested in Jerrod Johnson
Jerrod Johnson would be a fascinating addition at offensive coordinator. He currently sits as the quarterbacks coach with the Houston Texans. Beyond his work with CJ Stroud this year, he has plenty of reasons to think he is an up-and-coming coordinator.
First, he played quarterback as recently as 2016. In 2013, he played for the Chicago Bears, another connection to the team. In 2017, he began coaching with the San Francisco 49ers under Kyle Shanahan as an assistant. He moved on to coaching for Frank Reich and the Indianapolis Colts in 2019, which is when he worked with Matt Eberflus.
In 2020, he was the quality control coach on the Colts offense. In 2021 he worked with the Minnesota Vikings and Kevin O’Connell as an assistant quarterback coach. Then, in 2023, he stepped up to quarterback coach with Demeco Ryans, who he worked with in 2017.
So, Johnson already had one defensive coach who met along the way to help him rise. Will Eberflus be next? Johnson has extensive work with quarterbacks and has been climbing the ladder, with the next stop likely being play caller.
Better than that, he has experience with Shanahan and that coaching tree, Reich and his coaching tree, which involved Nick Sirianni, O’Connell, and his staff, which has put together strong game plans, and then Texans, which has more Shanhan influence.
His diversity in staff and influences over his career are worth noting and worth calling for an interview.
2. The Chicago Bears should interview Kevin Patullo
Kevin Patullo is an interesting name to watch as the current pass game coordinator and assistant head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.
He started his career in the NFL as an assistant with Herm Edwards and the Kansas City Chiefs, with Chan Gailey as offensive coordinator. In 2010, Gailey was named head coach of the Buffalo Bills and brought Patullo with him. He stuck around there until 2012 and in 2014, was named assistant wide receiver coach under Ken Whisenhunt and the Tennessee Titans.
In 2015, he was reunited with Chan Gailey, who was offensive coordinator with the New York Jets. Gailey named him quarterbacks coach. In 2017, he was with Texas A&M and Kevin Sumlin as the senior offensive assistant before going back to the NFL in 2018.
In 2018, he was with the Indianapolis Colts and Matt Eberflus. He served as wide receivers coach for two years and was a pass game specialist in 2020. Then, he joined Nick Sirianni and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 as the pass game coordinator. He has been there ever since, and the Eagles have been successful with him in the role.
He has shot up the coaching ranks and has worked with both receivers, quarterbacks, and the passing game as a whole. That is what you need in a coordinator with a new quarterback.
1. Will the Chicago Bears call Frank Reich to be the offensive coordinator
This one is the most obvious name to bring up. We mentioned a lot of Indianapolis Colts offensive staff members, but there is also one big name on that staff that the team could hire. First, Frank Reich worked as the head coach, and Matt Eberflus was the defensive coordinator.
This time, it could be Eberflus as the head coach bringing in Reich as his offensive coordinator. It has been a bad two years for Frank Reich. However, a lot of things were out of his control due to the ownership and general manager situations around him.
Now, he gets a chance to start fresh. Reich will not get a head coach job after going 0-2 in his last two stints. However, he could be much better as an offensive coordinator compared to a head coach anyway. The playcalls have not really been the issue as much as the other aspects of coaching.
Beyond that, with Eberflus and Reich having that head coach experience, both could be more equipped to handle their side of the ball.