Making Sense of the Bears OC Candidates

Ryan Poles and the Bears weren’t kidding when they said they would leave no stone unturned in their quest to improve the offense this season.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Bears have interviewed or requested to interview nine different offensive minds to lead their offense in 2024. I’ve cranked out profiles on all nine candidates at BN Bears this week (and last), and if you’re looking for some basic background and my two cents on each candidate, I encourage you to check those out.

But today, we will try to make some sense of all the names we’ve heard and create some separation by dividing the candidates into tiers.

Here’s what the tiers will look like:

• Want — If I had my druthers …

• Intrigued — OCs that I would probably be excited about, but not quite a slam dunk instant hire.

• The Bears Way — OCs that would be safe hires. It's not necessarily a bad hire, just one that fits the forever mold of the Bears’ operating methods.

   

• No Thanks — OCs that would either make better position coaches (right now, on this team) or aren’t qualified for the position, in my opinion.

Want

Shane Waldron

Waldron was the first name on the Bears list, and the interview request came almost immediately after the end-of-season press conference at Hallas Hall. Eight candidates later, and Waldron still leads the pack in my book.

Waldron is currently the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. He has spent the last three seasons in that position in Seattle and previously worked under Sean McVay in Los Angeles as a passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Waldron’s raw offensive rankings in Seattle this season aren’t terrific, but the underlying metrics paint a much more promising picture.