On Sunday, fans of the Chicago Bears may not only be witnessing the final home game for quarterback Justin Fields but also the likelihood that beleaguered offensive coordinator Luke Getsy will be calling his final game in front of the Soldier Field faithful.
As Bears fans continue to play the chicken or egg game when it comes to who’s at fault for Fields’ stifled development, it’s becoming ever more likely that the team will move on from its former first-round quarterback in favor of a blue-chip prospect like USC’s Caleb Williams or UNC’s Drake Maye in the 2024 NFL Draft. Should the Carolina Panthers lose this Sunday, the Bears will guarantee themselves the first overall pick in the draft for the second consecutive year.
Should Ryan Poles and Co. elect to take a new quarterback, it begs the question: is Getsy capable of grooming a raw prospect into a franchise quarterback, and if not, who are the candidates to do so?
Frank Reich
An immediate contender would be Matt Eberflus’s old boss in Indianapolis: Frank Reich. Reich, who was infamously fired mid-season by the Panthers, has a substantial resume of quarterback development. He oversaw the emergence of what would have been Carson Wentz’s MVP campaign in Philadelphia had he not torn his ACL. Reich also extracted the most from journeyman Nick Foles after Wentz went down with an in the Eagles’ Super Bowl season.
As head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Reich found himself behind the proverbial eight-ball after the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck. Caught amid a quarterback carousel, Reich relied on a solid run game to supplement an inconsistent pass game. In his five seasons with the Colts, Reich amassed a 40-33 record with two playoff berths.
He and Eberflus likely share a similar vision of how an offense should be built, and unlike the Panthers, the Bears have the pieces in place to run Reich’s preferred zone-based rushing attack.
Brian Griese
Older Bears fans might remember Brian Griese as the backup quarterback to Rex Grossman. Griese, whose dad Bob was the signal-caller for the undefeated Miami Dolphins, spent 13 seasons with ESPN as a top college analyst and commentator on Monday Night Football before getting an opportunity in March of 2022 to become the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback coach.
Griese’s teaching has helped springboard 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, to national stardom and MVP consideration, and it has caught the eye of NFL teams across the league.
Kyle Shanahan’s coaching tree is also flourishing. DeMeco Ryans and Bobby Slowik have rebuilt the culture in Houston almost overnight. Zac Taylor has led the Bengals to a Super Bowl berth and back-to-back conference championships. Kevin O’Connell has the Minnesota Vikings in playoff contention despite starting their fourth different quarterback this season, and Mike McDaniel continues to pump fuel into the high-octane Miami offense. Shanahan’s fingerprints are all over the NFL, and he has the Midas Touch.
Ken Dorsey
Ken Dorsey is a polarizing option because his tenure in Buffalo didn’t end with much fanfare. Before his promotion to offensive coordinator, Dorsey was the quarterbacks coach who oversaw Josh Allen’s development.
After a heralded collegiate career at Miami, Dorsey spent five uninspiring seasons in the NFL before becoming a quarterbacks coach for the Panthers from 2013 to 2017. He then moved to Buffalo, where he held the same position from 2019 to 2021. After the New York Giants hired Brian Daboll as head coach, Dorsey was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2022.
In Dorsey’s first season as offensive coordinator, the team finished second in points scored and yardage. But after a sluggish 5-5 to the 2023 season, he was fired in favor of Joe Brady.
Dorsey represents an ideal option at quarterbacks coach should Getsy and his staff be fired following the 2023 season. He guided Cam Newton to a 2015 MVP campaign and developed Allen alongside Brian Daboll. He’d be an excellent hire to help groom a rookie quarterback.
Klint Kubiak
If you recognize the last name, Kubiak, it’s likely that you’re thinking of Klint’s dad and longtime Texans head coach Gary Kubiak. Gary was a longtime assistant of former Denver Broncos head coach (and Kyle’s dad) Mike Shanahan. Like his father, Klint finds himself on another Shanahan staff, this time with Mike’s son Kyle as the 49ers passing game specialist.
In 2021, Klint Kubiak was offensive coordinator for the Vikings and Mike Zimmer. That year, the Vikings had the fewest giveaways, the fifth-best passer rating, the ninth-best Red Zone TD%, and ranked in the top half of the league in Offensive DVOA and Offensive EPA/Play.
If the pass-game coordinator gives you pause, rest assured. The 49ers didn’t have an offensive coordinator in 2022 after the hiring of Mike McDaniel. Instead, Bobby Slowik adopted the moniker “pass game coordinator,” and it has since been passed down to Kubiak after Slowik’s departure to Houston.
Kubiak would be an intriguing option. He’s well-versed in the Kubiak and Shanahan systems, which have overtaken the league and produced success at several stops. The question with Kubiak will be his ability to develop a quarterback. In Minnesota, he worked side-by-side with veteran Kirk Cousins, and in Denver, he worked with Russell Wilson.
No Change: Keep Luke Getsy
Last but not least is the most likely scenario: retaining Luke Getsy. He’s already shown an ability to transform his offense to fit his players’ skill sets, and he has also demonstrated a penchant for building a solid rushing attack to complement an up-and-coming defense.
Keeping Getsy ensures continuity; for a rookie quarterback, that cannot be understated. Being thrust into a situation where the 10 surrounding players are familiar with the offense’s verbiage and checks can be an invaluable asset for a rookie.
Apart from the lack of development from Fields, Getsy’s biggest weakness is situational playcalling. You can count on roughly three to four plays a game (usually in short yardage) where Getsy will attempt to outsmart an opponent instead of making the obvious call.
Regarding Justin Fields’ lack of development, it’s tough to know what else Getsy can do when Fields can’t anticipate receivers’ routes or navigate a dirty pocket. An offense can be tailored to mask these shortcomings temporarily. Still, NFL defenses are too good and adaptable to continually cut the field in half and hope for sustained success.
That’s not to absolve Getsy. If Getsy were to remain with the Bears, I’d demand some veteran coaching voice to join him on the staff and in the quarterback room. As it stands, the Bears’ offensive coaching staff is relatively green in comparison to staffs across the league. In Matt Nagy’s first few years, he had Brad Childress join him as a sounding board. Getsy would benefit from bringing a veteran coach like Jim Caldwell aboard in an advisor role to assist with game-planning and player development, and a proven quarterbacks coach like Ken Dorsey to help develop a blue-chip rookie.
Conclusion
The Bears’ offense is an interesting unit from both player and coaching perspectives. There may be no quarterback/offensive-coordinator relationship in the league that’s as much push-pull as the Justin Fields and Luke Getsy duo. For every play that Getsy draws up where Fields misses a streaking DJ Moore, there’s an equal play where the scheme breaks down and Fields makes something out of nothing by scrambling for a 35-yard gain.
I believe it’s a foregone conclusion that the Bears will be moving on from Fields. The golden ticket that is the first overall pick will be too good to trade out of yet again, especially with the true talent occupying the top of the draft at quarterback.
The question remains about what to do with Getsy, and it’s a much more layered answer. Do the Bears want to hedge their bets and keep Getsy while shaking up the positional coaches beneath him? That didn’t work out so well when they made Nagy fire Harry Hiestand in favor of Juan Castillo.
Do you fire Getsy and risk hitting the reset button for the entire offense? Does Ryan Poles (and ostensibly Matt Eberflus) feel that the scheme is so broken that it’s unsalvageable?
