Why Thomas Brown was a homerun hire by the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears hired Thomas Brown as their passing game coordinator. The move is a bit surprising when you consider the team interviewed him for their offensive coordinator job and he did not get it. The thought would be that Brown would probably move to another team if he did not get the job. However, he decided to join in a lesser role. It makes a lot of sense, though. 

Chicago Bears hire Thomas Brown as passing game coordinator

First, Brown was one of the hottest coordinator names as recently as last year. This is great for the Chicago Bears. When the Panthers hired him, the talk was that they were building a hot, young staff. 

Brown had a career of making the most out of the running game in college and had been working with Sean McVay from 2020 through the 2022 season. In 2023, he was named the Panthers offensive coordinator, which was considered a great hire at the time. 

However, when you unwrap the hire, it was not a good fit. First, he was not calling plays under Frank Reich, and Reich and Brown did not have a long relationship. They were thrown together from two different styles. 

Also, the team drafted Bryce Young, who looks to be too small to make some of the needed NFL throws. So, it was a situation where Brown was set up to fail. 

Now, Brown will be working with Shane Waldron, who he spent time with in Los Angeles. They have the same philosophies. He will get a new number-one overall pick, but one that is deemed much better. 

Brown was just a hot candidate a year ago, and the bad situation he went into should not change that. He may have been the runner-up for the OC job with the Chicago Bears. Adding this mind as a passing game coordinator is really smart.