Luke Getsy Reputation Described As “Brilliant” Among NFL People
The Chicago Bears have brought in many offensive coordinators over the years. Some of them even had established reputations for prior success. Gary Crowton was a wizard in college football but lasted only two years. Mike Martz was the architect of the Greatest Show on Turf and lasted only two years. Matt Nagy brought the fancy Kansas City Chiefs reputation with him in 2018 and was quickly exposed as a poor Andy Reid knockoff. So one can understand if fans are skeptical of Luke Getsy.
There is no denying the buzz around the 37-year-old. Even months after arriving, there are still snippets of information describing the Bears’ offensive coordinator as an ascending star. Stacey Dales of NFL.com was the latest to bring this up during her Chicago’s 2022 schedule assessment.
“Getsy has been described by many as brilliant. Many of those players and coaches, of course, stem from his time in Green Bay, where he spent a total of seven seasons as an assistant, with his most recent roles being quarterbacks coach to Aaron Rodgers and pass game coordinator of Green Bay’s high-octane offense.”
That sounds nice.
Nobody can deny that Getsy comes from good coaching stock. His success is difficult to quantify, though. Most of it came with the Packers, a franchise that thrived on offense long before he arrived in the mid-2010s. It is great that so many people, including Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers, have sung his praises, but the tangible evidence is lacking. He only spent one season as an offensive coordinator in a prominent football location at Mississippi State.
It is impossible to surmise how good a coach is or isn’t in one year. That is why the decision by head coach Matt Eberflus to make him the new offensive coordinator was somewhat of a gamble. The lack of play-calling experience can’t be ignored. Yet the Bears are entrusting the development of Justin Fields to him. No risk it, no biscuit, as Bruce Arians loved to say. The big question is whether the team has the patience to see this through.
Luke Getsy has to get results sooner than later.
Keep this in mind. The last offensive coordinator for the Bears to survive beyond two seasons in Chicago was Ron Turner from 2005 to 2009. People love to blame lack of ability on the scoring woes, but lack of continuity is another glaring issue. That is why Getsy is under considerable pressure from the start. While his offense is notorious for being difficult to learn, it is unlikely fans will suffer through multiple years with few signs of legitimate progress.
Nobody is saying Luke Getsy has to start lighting up the scoreboard. Not finishing in the bottom 10 of the league would be a far more reasonable goal. It sounds simple enough, but apparently, it’s the equivalent of scaling the Rocky Mountains during the winter for Bears coaches. People are tired of excuses. They are tired of bone-headed mental mistakes and constantly looking one step behind every opponent they face.
Scoring points in today’s NFL should not be this difficult.
Getsy understands the challenge ahead of him. He doesn’t seem overwhelmed by it. This will be a process. His goal is to determine his roster’s strengths, starting with the quarterback, and construct the scheme around what they do best. If this is true, he’s already a step ahead of where Nagy was back in 2018.