It’s fair to say that the 2024 season for the Chicago Bears could be a case study in instability.
The team finished 5-12, but not before firing multiple coaches. Former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, hired during the offseason to help develop rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, was let go after just nine games, becoming the first mid-season offensive coordinator change for the Bears since 1970, when Perry Moss was appointed OC. It didn’t stop there.
Then-head coach Matt Eberflus was fired weeks later after controversial clock mismanagement issues late in a Thanksgiving loss to the Detroit Lions.
More about Williams’ rookie season was revealed in leaked details from a book by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham: “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback.” In it, Williams’ father Carl revealed that Caleb was often left to watch film alone, without guidance from the coaching staff—a claim that has raised eyebrows across the league.
According to ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler, the second-year QB’s former coaches aren’t happy with Williams for sharing those details.
Jeremy Fowler: Former Bears Coaches ‘Not Thrilled’ About Williams’ Comments
GettyMultiple former Chicago coaches are a tad mad at Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, according to Jeremy Fowler.
Here’s the direct quote from Wickersham’s book, via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin: “At times, Williams would watch film alone, with no instruction or guidance from the coaches. … ‘No one tells me what to watch. I just turn it on,’” he said.
That image of the No. 1 overall pick sitting in isolation in the film room struck a chord across the league. Instead of receiving structured feedback, the rookie often found himself relying on instincts and natural talent. This contrasts sharply with what many veteran QBs receive via structured coaching.
“Football maturity is going to be a big thing for him,” Fowler said about Williams (h/t Bleacher Report’s Scott Polacek). “Leaguewide, talking to other teams who are watching it closely because the ability is massive but how does he comport himself on the field? The Bears have already been working with him on body language, how you’re handling yourself in the huddle, on the sidelines when a play doesn’t go right. And the word out of Chicago is he’s handling himself well there.”
Fowler then dropped this little nugget:
“Now, some of the previous Bears coaches were not overly thrilled, I was told, that he made public that he was watching film by himself. They felt like he could’ve handled that a little better from an accountability standpoint. So those are all things people are watching but word is this offseason he’s been great, really taken to Ben Johnson’s hard, aggressive coaching.”
If Anything, Caleb Williams Should Be the Angry One
The mid-season ousting of both Waldron and Eberflus raised some legit questions: Did the Bears’ coaching staff fail Williams? The answer may lie in that film room—where the rookie, left to his own devices, watched film without direction. In a sense, Williams was essentially flying solo in his development.
Waldron’s inability to protect and elevate the young QB came with a steep price: an anemic offense that ranked near the league’s worst in total yards (284.6 yards per game, which ranked 32nd out of 32 teams) and points scored (18.2 points per game, tied for 29th).
Eberflus, now the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, did nothing to help his QB, either. Basically, Caleb worked with two coaches who were way overmatched, as neither Waldron nor Eberflus seemed fully prepared on a week-to-week basis.
What Williams needed was stability, structure and the right kind of discipline. Instead, he got a revolving-door culture, with interim coach Thomas Brown promoted twice in the team’s attempts to steady the turmoil. Williams entered the league as its most scrutinized QB, but his development was largely hindered not by his own inability, but by a broken system and questionable leadership.
We’ll see what he can do under Ben Johnson in Year 2.
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