When the Seattle Seahawks made the decision to wipe the Pete Carroll era away via a sudden change in leadership, almost the entire coaching staff had to leave with him. Despite his production with Seattle, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was handed his pink slip when Mike Macdonald came to town.
Waldron may not have been Bill Walsh as a coordinator, but he looked capable of coordinating a quality, if often unremarkable, offense after learning under Sean McVay. Following his replacement, the Chicago Bears hired him to jump-start Caleb Williams' pro career.
After a promising start, Waldron went 23 consecutive drives without scoring a touchdown. Such production, despite a very poor offensive line, was not tenable. The Bears, who are often hesitant to make coaching changes mid-season, saw that Waldron was so bad that Williams needed someone else in his ear.
The Bears made the decision to fire Waldron and insert well-respected passing game coordinator Thomas Brown in as the new coordinator and play-caller. Maybe things aren't as bad in Seattle right now, as their passing game remains one of the better ones in the NFC.
Sources: Shane Waldron is out as #Bears offensive coordinator.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 12, 2024
Thomas Brown is expected to take over. pic.twitter.com/KsUk1Mrb2F
Seahawks offense looks better after Bears fire Shane Waldron
One of Macdonald's first moves was bringing former Washington mastermind Ryan Grubb to Seattle as the primary play-caller. While he hasn't been perfect, as he is still finding his sea legs in the pros, Grubb has already proven to be a big upgrade over a McVay disciple like Waldron.
Geno Smith ranks as one of the best quarterbacks in the league in terms of passing yardage, and running back Kenneth Walker III has scored seven touchdowns in seven games. Grubb is doing this despite calling a ton of long-developing pass plays with an offensive line that is just as bad as Chicago's unit at his disposal.
Waldron came from the Sean McVay tree, but the rest of the NFL is realizing that the brain drain around McVay and Kyle Shanahan is starting to infect coaching staffs across the league. Just because a coach comes from that tree doesn't mean they can run an offense like McVay or Shanahan can.
Waldron will likely get a job as a position coach in the near future, but coordinating proved to be too much for him. Seattle could have told the Bears that before they made this move and started ruining Williams, but the Bears needed to learn in the moment just how rank Waldron is.