After days of waiting, we finally have some clarity about the future of the Bears coaching staff. Head coach Matt Eberflus will stay. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, running backs coach Omar Young and assistant tight ends coach Tim Zetts will not. The team has decided to reshape much of the offensive staff. They didn't overhaul the entire offensive staff however.
Notably, offensive line coach Chris Morgan and tight ends coach Jim Dray were not fired. That doesn’t mean they’ll still be with the team when the team reports back to Halas Hall to begin work on the 2024 season. A new offensive coordinator will have his own ideas on what they want from their staff. The new OC will almost certainly have the opportunity to evaluate Morgan and Dray and decide whether or not to retain them.
The decision not to fire either Morgan or Dray today probably boils down to the same reason: development. Each coach did good work to help young players grow into reliable starters.
Let’s start with Morgan. He helped Braxton Jones, a fifth-round draft pick who played college ball at Southern Utah, turn into a reliable left tackle. There were questions about Jones’ pass protection throughout his rookie season, but Jones noticeably improved in his second year. Morgan also played a key role in the team drafting starting right tackle Darnell Wright with the No. 10 overall pick in the draft in 2023. Morgan put Wright through a rigorous pre-draft workout, then quizzed him to test his mental fortitude after exhausting exercise. Wright obviously passed and continued to grow under Morgan’s tutelage. Finally, Morgan helped Teven Jenkins make the transition from tackle to guard over the past two seasons, where Jenkins has largely flourished.
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Dray has overseen Cole Kmet’s development into one of the better two-way tight ends in the NFL. When Kmet joined the Bears, he was known more as a pass catcher than a blocker. But over the course of the past two seasons, his blocking has improved both in-line and out in space. That has allowed the Bears to use him in more scenarios, like as a leaking receiver on play-action passes. Kmet has also grown as a pass catcher and set career highs for catches (73) and receiving yards (719) in 2023. The Bears recognized Kmet’s growth by signing him to a four-year, $50-million extension last July.
The Bears are set to address the media on Wednesday afternoon, so we could receive even more clarity about the future of the coaching staff soon.
