Bears coach Matt Eberflus has hired eight assistant coaches, including two coordinators, since the end of the 2023 season.
Eberflus fittingly sported a new beard while discussing his new-look staff Thursday at a press conference introducing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and defensive coordinator Eric Washington.
Detailing what he looked for in the new coordinators, Eberflus said: "It's really about being creative. You want to be creative, and you want to be curious to make the scheme go and make it go with the skill set that we have. That's important on offense and defense. That's one of the things we talked about and that's why [Waldron and Washington] are sitting right here with us today."
Creativity isn't the only characteristic Eberflus was seeking in new coordinators.
"You've got to be able to adapt during the course of the season," he said. "You're going to have injuries at times. You're going to have different skill sets in there. In-game adaptability; you've got to have in-game tactics. That's an important part during the process of hiring the coordinators. And obviously being a leader. You've got to be a dynamic leader to be able to lead these men on offense and defense and that's an important part as you stand in front of the unit. You've got to be dynamic in that way."
Eberflus also wanted coaches who excel as teachers, possess passion for the game and partner successfully with players and staff members.
"You've got to love the game, just like we want our players to love the game," Eberflus said. "That's infectious. And if you love coming to work every single day, guess what, your players are going to love coming to work every single day."
Eberflus revealed that the Bears conducted 14 interviews for the two coordinator positions, all in person. He thanked Bears Chairman George H. McCaskey and President & CEO Kevin Warren "for giving us the resources to be able to facilitate this process and doing it the right way."
"We wanted to make sure we interviewed everybody in person," Eberflus said. "So that entailed flying out to see candidates and bringing guys in to see them here at Halas Hall. We did that. It was great. We wanted to make sure we did a thorough process of this and got to know each candidate. That was really part of the decision making and I thought it was really good."
Other assistants that Eberflus has hired are Chris Beatty (receivers), Thomas Brown (passing game coordinator), Jason Houghtaling (assistant offensive line), Jennifer King (assistant running backs), Chad Morton (running backs) and Robbie Picazo (assistant quarterbacks and receivers).
The only position on the staff that remains open is assistant defensive line coach. Justin Hinds, who served in that role, left the Bears to become Seahawks defensive line coach.
"We're in the process of hiring that position as we speak, interviewing several candidates this week and potentially into this weekend," Eberflus said. "We've got one more hire that we have to do."
