Future Hall of Fame QB's ringing endorsement of new Bears OC is exactly what Caleb Williams needs

The Chicago Bears have perpetually been stuck in quarterback purgatory for nearly a century. Even as the passing game has grown, no quarterback in franchise history has produced a single season with more than 4,000 passing yards.

At first glance, it may seem to be nothing more than bad luck. When the Bears selected USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, many analysts and fans believed that the winds of fortune were finally shifting in the Windy City’s favor. Some even predicted that Chicago would be a playoff team. Yet, the 2024 season clearly not gone as expected.

The early portion of the season yielded promising results for Chicago — the Bears held a 4-2 record heading into their bye week in Week 7. Since then, the wheels have fallen off. Chicago has lost three consecutive games, all of which were winnable, and it became clear that change was necessary after the Bears suffered a 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 10.

Matthew Stafford had high praise for new Bears OC Thomas Brown

After the team fell to a 4-5 record, Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was relieved of his play-calling duties and replaced with passing game coordinator Thomas Brown. 

Brown spent four years with the Los Angeles Rams before joining the Bears, and he has been beloved by his nearly all of players. In a 2022 profile with The Athletic, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford shared his thoughts on Brown's influence on the team.

“There's no ego when he walks into a room, but he walks into a room with a purpose,” Stafford said. “I think that’s something we all feel when we see him and hear from him.”

Brown was voted as the second-best offensive coordinator in a NFL Players’ Association survey last season, per NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe.

Brown may prove to have a positive impact on Williams’ development moving forward, but it’s hard to put much faith in the organization. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has led an undisciplined and poorly-coached team. 

After all, it wasn’t Waldron’s fault that cornerback Tyrique Stevenson gave up a game-winning Hail Mary to the Washington Commanders and then pouted about being benched for it. It also wasn’t Waldron’s fault that top wide receiver D.J. Moore failed to give an endorsement of his head coach. 

The Bears rarely make the right decisions. Loading up on skill position players but neglecting the offensive line has proven to be a questionable decision by general manager Ryan Poles, and the on-field product has shown that the entire coaching staff should never have been trusted to develop Williams.

For now, Waldron’s firing seems to be nothing more than a desperate attempt to prevent an inevitable head coaching change this offseason.