The Chicago Bears introduced their new members of the coaching staff to the local media. Head coach Matt Eberflus showcased a new appearance, including a faded haircut and a beard.

After Eberflus went through the additions to his coaching staff, which includes a new coordinator on both sides of the ball and several new position coaches, he turned the podium over to his new coordinators.

When I heard about this presser this week, my first thought was, why would they put their new coordinators, specifically Shane Waldron, out there before the quarterback situation was resolved? They didn’t trot Waldron out there last month when they hired him, so, why now?

Waldron was asked how his scheme would work for Justin Fields or a college quarterback who could enter the picture after the NFL Draft in April. Waldron said that he and his staff will work to fit whoever the quarterback is this season and said that he prides himself on adaptability with his offensive philosophy.

“I think priding ourselves on having an offensive system, a group of coaches that can adapt and adjust the scheme to a player's skillset, it's our job first to be great leaders and second to put guys in the right position and the best position for their own individual success to lead to our team's success."

Waldron said that whoever the quarterback is next season, he’s seen quarterbacks have success picking up his system and running with it fairly quickly in the past.

“Yeah, I totally believe that," Waldron said during his introductory news conference on Thursday. "I think in the past,experiences with different quarterbacks, different experience levels, whether I was in the coordinator role or in a role as a position coach, I felt that way.

"I felt different quarterbacks have been able to step foot into the system, be able to learn it quickly, and that starts with us being able to teach it in a good and efficient manner where they understand it."

As Waldron tried to walk the fine line of not mentioning a specific quarterback, the questions kept rolling in about Justin Fields and Caleb Williams. He didn't provide details about how Fields or Williams would fit in his system, but he did give a simple assessment of Williams.

"My impression of a lot of these quarterbacks, all the college quarterbacks, was, what an unbelievable college season we just came off of with these guys making some of these dynamic plays down the stretch, whether it was leading into the championship games or the bowl games leading up to that, the regular season," Waldron said. "There's multiple quarterbacks that have already performed on the highest stage, in big games and obviously [Williams is] one of them."

Waldron was asked what impact the reality of the Bears having the first and ninth overall selections in this year’s NFL Draft had on his decision to choose the Bears over other offers that he had around the league. He said it was rare to have the chance to choose two top playmakers in the first ten picks, but he didn't give many details.

"It's not going to happen too often," Waldron said of the Bears' two first-round picks inside the top 10. "This is that year, and then also the core, the group of players that is already in place on offense, including the quarterback that played at a high level and that displayed the ability to win football games and make plays."

All told, I think the Bears put Waldron in a tough spot, but he handled it very well. If you can “win” a press conference, Shane Waldron did that on Thursday.

The Bears also introduced new defensive coordinator Eric Washington on Thursday.

"We're going to be a team that generates pressure with our front four,” Washington said during his opening statement to the local media at Halas Hall. “We are going to build the best pass rush in football. That happens to be an area, fortunately, [where] I've had tremendous success."

Washington's track record speaks for itself when it comes to bolstering teams' pass rush capabilities. While with the Bills for the last three seasons, they were consistently near the top in sacks. They ranked fourth, 14th, and 11th, respectively. His impact was equally impressive with the Panthers, taking them from the bottom of the pack to a commendable 10th in the league within just one season.

On the flip side, the Bears have struggled significantly in this department over the last couple of seasons, ranking near the bottom in sacks recorded. In 2023, they barely avoided the bottom spot with 30 sacks, a slight improvement from their abysmal 20 sacks the season prior.

Recognizing the urgency, Ryan Poles has made moves to address the issue. This included drafting promising talents like Gervon Dexter Jr. and Zacch Pickens in the 2023 NFL draft and acquiring Montez Sweat from the Commanders in exchange for their 2024 second-round pick. Sweat's immediate impact with 6.0 sacks in just nine games underscored the positive shift. With a keen understanding of the team's personnel, Washington is optimistic about the potential to cultivate a formidable defensive force.

"We have the personnel to get that done [becoming the best pass rush]," Washington said. "We've got size, speed, quickness, length, Montez [Sweat]. You look at the people we already have here, I mean it's exciting. Plus we invested heavily in the draft last year, with the two young defensive tackles [Dexter and Pickens]. All things are just positive as far as that goes."

One quote that stuck out to me from Matt Eberflus:

"You've got to be able to adapt during the course of the season," Eberflus said while explaining what drew him to his new coordinators during the hiring process. "You're going to have injuries at times. You're going to have different skill sets in there. In-game adaptability; you've got to have in-game tactics. That's an important part during the process of hiring the coordinators. And obviously being a leader. You've got to be a dynamic leader to be able to lead these men on offense and defense and that's an important part as you stand in front of the time. You've got to be dynamic in that way."

One thing that Luke Getsy failed at in Chicago was being able to adapt during the course of the season. Let's hope Shane Waldron has better fortune.

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