Shane Waldron is out, Thomas Brown is in, with Sean McVay all over
The Chicago Bears “dream team” of surrounding first overall pick Caleb Williams with “three number one receivers” and a former Sean McVay assistant calling plays is undergoing a jarring wake-up call: The Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and replaced him with Thomas Brown.
Waldron was on McVay’s staff from 2017 to 2020 prior to becoming the Seahawks offensive coordinator, while Brown was on the Rams from 2020 to 2022 prior to becoming the Panthers offensive coordinator in 2023.
After firing Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator and realizing they would get Williams, the Bears hired Waldron, who was let go by Seattle along with virtually every other coach who was working under Pete Carroll. Brown was tabbed as Chicago’s passing game coordinator, a fact that apparently doesn’t concern them in promoting him to replace Waldron.
Brown’s lone season as an OC in 2023 was disastrous, but most of the blame fell on head coach Frank Reich and quarterback Bryce Young, mostly because Brown wasn’t calling plays until the end of the season.
One thing I think should be clarified about new Bears OC Thomas Brown is that for a large portion of the season last year in Carolina, Brown was *not* the offensive play caller. HC Frank Reich was.
Brown took over duties the final 6 games after Reich was fired and prior to…
— Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV) November 12, 2024
The Bears actually beat the Rams 24-18 in Week 4, the first of three wins in a row, but it’s been a nightmare for Chicago ever since: The Bears have scored a total of 27 points in their last three games and rank dead last in passing yards over that period of time.
Williams has been sacked an NFL-high 38 times, but to say that the Bears have the worst offensive line is an overstatement. Most sites rank Chicago average at offensive line play.