Few hires in recent Bears history have been as bad as former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who got fired this season after just nine games. Now he likely will resurface with the Jaguars under new coach Liam Coen.
The Jaguars plan to hire Waldron, likely as passing-game coordinator, ESPN reported. The Bears bypassed Coen in favor of Waldron a year ago, then the Buccaneers hired Coen as offensive coordinator and the Jaguars plucked him as head coach. Coen already has 29-year-old Grant Udinski, most recently the Vikings’ assistant quarterbacks coach, as offensive coordinator.
Bears players began complaining about Waldron early in the season, and the team averaged just 19.4 points in his nine games. The last straw was a 19-3 loss at home to the lowly Patriots. Three games later, the Bears fired coach Matt Eberflus as well.
Eberflus landed with the Cowboys as defensive coordinator, former defensive coordinator Eric Washington is now the Jets’ defensive line coach and interim coach Thomas Brown is the Patriots’ tight ends coach and passing-game coordinator.
New Bears coach Ben Johnson retained only special teams coordinator Richard Hightower and tight ends coach Jim Dray from the previous staff. He hired Declan Doyle as offensive coordinator and Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator.