With Luke Getsy gone, here are 11 potential candidates for Chicago Bears offensive coordinator

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is staying in Chicago in 2024, but the organization has decided to move on from offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. The team fired Getsy and some of his offensive staff members Wednesday morning.

After two seasons with mediocre results on offense, Eberflus is making a change. The Bears’ passing attack in 2022 was the NFL’s worst in a decade, at least in terms of yards per game. Even with the addition of star receiver DJ Moore, the 2023 attack didn’t fare much better. The Bears ranked 27th in passing yards per game with 182.1 per game.

The Bears were an elite rushing team during both seasons, but the passing game always lagged behind.

And so, the Bears will make a change. It’s unclear exactly what this will mean for quarterback Justin Fields. He remains under contract for next season, and the Bears have a team option for 2025. They also hold the No. 1 overall selection in this spring’s draft.

Eberflus will likely begin interviews for his vacant offensive coordinator position as soon as possible. This will be a highly coveted position because of the opportunity to work with Fields and/or a rookie quarterback selected in the draft. Even if, from the outside looking in, Eberflus appears to be on the hot seat, this is still the Chicago Bears. There will be no shortage of interested candidates.

Here’s a look at some of the top offensive coordinator candidates across the league. They are listed alphabetically.

Eric Bieniemy, former Commanders offensive coordinator

This, of course, assumes that Eric Bieniemy isn’t hired as a head coach somewhere. Bieniemy has interviewed for numerous head coaching jobs over the years. With head coach Ron Rivera fired in Washington, his staff members are likely looking for new jobs. Bieniemy won two championships as the offensive coordinator with the Chiefs before leaving to take the same job with Washington in 2023. He and Bears general manager Ryan Poles worked together in Kansas City.

Ken Dorsey, former Bills offensive coordinator

Ken Dorsey worked closely with Bills quarterback Josh Allen, first as quarterbacks coach, then as offensive coordinator. The Bills started the 2023 season 5-5, and firing Dorsey proved to be their major in-season shake up. But the Bills’ issues were far bigger than the offense. The team was actually averaging 26.2 points per game when it fired Dorsey and has done only slightly better since. Dorsey has a track record for developing an inexperienced first-round pick at quarterback.

Tanner Engstrand, Lions passing game coordinator

Tanner Engstrand began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at San Diego under Jim Harbaugh in 2005. He coached at San Diego for more than a decade in various roles before joining Harbaugh in Michigan as an offensive analyst in 2018. Engstrand was an offensive coordinator in the XFL in 2019 before joining the Lions in 2020. He has served as an offensive assistant, tight ends coach and passing game coordinator in Detroit. The Lions’ passing game ranked second in the NFL this season.

Brian Griese, 49ers quarterbacks coach

Former Bears quarterback Brian Griese joined Kyle Shanahan’s staff in 2022 and has overseen the rise of quarterback Brock Purdy from Mr. Irrelevant to MVP candidate. After retiring from the NFL, Griese worked as an analyst for ESPN, including two seasons on the “Monday Night Football” broadcast. Griese played in Mike Shanahan’s system in Denver in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He also played for Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay from 2004-05, where Kyle Shanahan was a quality control coach. Griese played for the Bears from 2006-07.

Jerrod Johnson, Texans quarterbacks coach

Jerrod Johnson has overseen C.J. Stroud’s emergence as a rookie of the year candidate in 2023. The Texans quarterback coach previously worked with Eberflus in Indianapolis, first as a Bill Walsh diversity fellow in 2019, then an offensive quality control coach with the Colts in 2020 and 2021. He spent 2022 as the assistant QB coach with the Vikings. A former QB himself, Johnson briefly played on the Bears’ practice squad in 2013.

Klint Kubiak, 49ers passing game coordinator

Klint Kubiak is the son of former NFL head coach Gary Kubiak, who coached the Broncos to a Super Bowl title during the 2015 season. Klint Kubiak has been an offensive coordinator once for the Vikings in 2021. That was after two seasons as QB coach under Vikings coach Mike Zimmer and offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski. Kubiak went with Nathaniel Hackett to Denver for one season as QB coach before taking a job as passing game coordinator with the 49ers this season.

Scottie Montgomery, Lions assistant head coach/running backs coach

Scottie Montgomery joined the Lions this year as both the assistant head coach and the running backs coach. He was previously the running backs coach in Indianapolis from 2021-22, where he worked with Eberflus in 2021. Prior to that, he was a college offensive coordinator at Maryland and head coach at East Carolina. He coached Colts running back Jonathan Taylor to a first-team All-Pro season in 2021. The Lions ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing this season.

Kevin Patullo, Eagles passing game coordinator/associate head coach

Kevin Patullo worked with Eberflus in Indianapolis from 2018-20, serving as wide receivers coach and passing game specialist. Patullo followed Nick Sirianni to Philadelphia in the same role, and added associate head coach to his title in 2023. He has been a big part of building the Eagles offense of the past couple of seasons. He also has experience as a QB coach with the Jets in 2015-16.

Frank Reich, former Panthers head coach

Once upon a time, Eberflus served as defensive coordinator under head coach Frank Reich when they worked together in Indianapolis. In November, the Panthers fired Reich just 11 games into his tenure as head coach. Reich was trying to coach up a rookie quarterback with not many weapons on offense. The question here is what Reich wants to do next. The Panthers are likely paying Reich a lot of money to sit at home.

Duce Staley, former Panthers running backs coach

Like Eberflus, Duce Staley is a Frank Reich disciple. He was the running backs coach and assistant head coach in Carolina this past season. When the Panthers fired Reich in November, they also fired Staley and QB coach Josh McCown. Staley previously held the same roles with the Lions in 2021 and 2022. Before that, he spent a decade as a coach with the Eagles following a successful career as an NFL running back. He has never been an offensive coordinator before.

Shane Waldron, Seahawks offensive coordinator

With Pete Carroll out in Seattle, his assistants are all available to take jobs elsewhere. Shane Waldron has been Carroll’s offensive coordinator since 2021. Prior to that, he spent five years working under Sean McVay in both Los Angeles and Washington. For three of those years, he was the passing game coordinator for McVay and the Rams. Waldron’s Seahawks offense exceeded all expectations in 2022 when it finished 11th in the NFL in passing with journeyman QB Geno Smith.