Packers Coach Gives Bears Another Worry

Matt Eberflus has beaten the Bears six straight times and now has given them something else to worry about even after their coup of hiring away his quarterbacks coach.

USA Today

It seems not only does Aaron Rodgers like ruining things for he Bears but so does his coach.

During last week's NFL Scouting Combine, Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur was asked at his press conference about Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. LaFleur had Getsy on staff three years as quarterbacks coach and also last year as passing game coordinator.

"There's so many things, I don't know where to start, but I would tell you that again, it all starts with the type of person that you're getting," LaFleur aid. "And I mean he's a super loyal dude, great family man, cares about everybody he's around. His players feel that.

"I think he's extremely detailed. He's a really hard worker, always brings great ideas to the table, a great communicator. Brings, again, a lot of energy and certainly we're going to miss him but I think Chicago definitely got a real guy down there."

If LaFleur had stopped there, it might have pleased Bears fans a more, but he couldn't leave it at that and picked at one of their great fears. LaFleur added: "And I think it's a matter of time before he's standing up at this podium as a head coach."

It's always been a great concern expressed since the Bears hired a defensive-side head coach and an offensive coordinator who has all the indicators pointing at success. They could have Getsy for a year and he'd be gone with the next round of NFL head coach firings. And then where are they?

Or who knows, perhaps he gets a head coach offer from a prestigious college program. He was a college offensive coordinator in 2018, although his background has been the NFL.

Longtime Pittsburgh writer Gerry Dulac, writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, points out how Getsy is right out of the Pennsylvania coaching hotbed that gave everyone Super Bowl champion coaches like Mike Ditka, Bill Cowher, Mike McCarthy and other NFL coaches like Marty Schottenheimer, Ted Marchibroda, Chuck Knox, Marvin Lewis and Dave Wannstedt. Bud Carson, the curator of the Steel Curtain as their defensive coordinator, was also from the area.

Former Vikings quarterbacks coach Andy Janocko as Bears quarterbacks coach and former Giants receivers coach Tyke Tolbert as passing game coordinator would be next in line on staff to follow Getsy if LaFleur's comment came true.

Janocko was a quarterback when Getsy was a grad assistant coach at Pitt in 2010 under Wannstedt. So that could be a line of succession. Tolbert is widely respected in the league but it has been for bringing along receivers over 19 years and he hasn't been an offensive coordinator or worked with quarterbacks.

This is all putting the cart before the horse, and most Bears fans would be glad to deal with it if it actually occurred because it would mean quarterback Justin Fields has achieved some success.

It might first be best to let Getsy prove he can oversee an NFL offense for at least a season because he hasn't done it, and also help in bringing along Fields, because he has had nothing to do with developing a successful, young NFL passer.

At last week’s combine, folks around the NFL spoke of the Bears with sobering indifference.

Popular judgment: The Bears are irrelevant, far away from doing much that would cause ripples big enough to be noticed by the rest of the league.https://t.co/cg5WhYeHgT

— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) March 8, 2022

Aaron Rodgers' development in Green Bay had everything to do with recently rehired Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, who was there from 2006-16 with Rodgers.

This all has to be ranked somewhere down in the thousands among worries for Eberflus going into his first year as coach. He has plenty to deal with first just getting a capable roster and seeing it function.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven