The Las Vegas Raiders reportedly are expected to hire former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy as their next offensive coordinator after being spurned by Kliff Kingsbury.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported the two sides are working out a contract. Kingsbury was set to land the job in recent days before pulling out of negotiations Saturday, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting the former Arizona Cardinals head coach is the favorite to take over as offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders on head coach Dan Quinn’s staff.
Getsy spent the last two seasons as the Bears’ offensive coordinator before being fired. Chicago ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in total yards and scoring during each of Getsy’s years running the offense, and he took criticism for the lack of development by quarterback Justin Fields.
The Ohio State product has made few noticeable improvements as a passer during his NFL career, and the Bears may choose to move on this offseason in favor of USC’s Caleb Williams after landing the No. 1 pick in April’s draft from the Carolina Panthers. Getsy’s system would, at times, strangely force the dynamic playmaker Fields to stay in the pocket and into complicated reads.
Fields said the Bears’ coaching was a main reason he felt he played “robotic” during a slow start to the season.
“You know, could be coaching I think,” Fields told reporters in September. “At the end of the day, they are doing their job when they are giving me what to look at, but at the end of the day, I can’t be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week and then when the game comes, it’s time to play free at that point. Thinking less and playing more.”
While Fields would walk back his comments and say he wasn’t blaming coaches, it’s fair to note he did look stilted at times early in the season before being allowed to play more like himself after coming back from injury. The results still weren’t there, and the Bears jettisoned Getsy and most of his offensive staff after the season.
It will be interesting to see how Getsy’s system performs in a Raiders offense with its host of concerns. Getsy likely has a fan in wideout Davante Adams, who worked under Getsy with the Green Bay Packers, but the Raiders’ true concern is at quarterback.
Jimmy Garoppolo may be brought back due to his contract structure, but Vegas will certainly look for a third quarterback to compete with him and Aidan O’Connell.