Why changing OCs in-season can be tricky for young QBs like Caleb Williams

CHICAGO -- Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams felt the pocket starting to squeeze in on third-and-19 from deep in his own territory Sunday, and after taking back-to-back sacks to open the final drive, he knew another could be decisive.

So Williams said he leaned on what he had been coached to do in the two-minute drill: find his one-on-one matchups and his best playmakers.

After dropping back and taking off to his right, Williams avoided a sack and threw an off-platform laser to fellow rookie Rome Odunze, who gained 16 yards. Williams found Odunze again for 21 yards on fourth-and-3, turning desperation into hope for the Bears' offense.

"That's real quarterbacking at a high level," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said.

The fact it ultimately led to a blocked field goal and 20-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers shouldn't diminish the improvement Wililams made five days after the Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and promoted Thomas Brown.

The Bears' passing game looked considerably different with Brown calling plays. Chicago relied on short, quick passes. Williams averaged 2.42 seconds to throw the ball, his fastest this season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Eighteen of Williams' 31 pass attempts were thrown five air yards or less, a way to spark the offense after the quarterback struggled to ignite a deep passing attack.

"It feels good when you can string together a few drives," Williams said. "You work super hard throughout the week, and then not being able to go down and score is frustrating and tough, as you may assume. Being able to [get in an offensive rhythm] builds confidence for us."

Including Waldron, seven offensive coordinators have been fired mid-season over the past five years. Sometimes the change can spark quick improvement, such as when the Buffalo Bills pivoted from Ken Dorsey to Joe Brady after Week 10 of the 2023 season. Under Dorsey, the Bills averaged 116.5 rushing yards per game, 13th in the league. Since then, including the playoffs, the Bills have averaged 153.3 rushing yards per game, third in the league.

Other times, a coordinator switch is just about trying to keep things afloat until change can occur in the offseason. When Brady was fired as the Panthers' OC in 2021, Carolina's offense went from averaging 19.7 points in 12 games to 13.6 after his departure. And the 2021 New York Giants slipped from 18.9 to 9.9 points per game after firing Jason Garrett 10 games in.

"I think at this point, when it comes to where we are in the season, you can't reinvent the wheel," Brown said. 'I'm not going to try and do that at all. That would be kind of setting us in a spiral going backward in my opinion.

"But it's about being able to try and find the best way to be effective with our playmakers."

With 10 seconds remaining in the second quarter Sunday, Williams handed the ball off to running back Roschon Johnson, who barreled into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown. But it wasn't just another touchdown.

While losing their three previous games, the Bears were the only team in the NFL not to score an offensive touchdown. Johnson ended a streak of 25 straight drives without scoring a touchdown, which was the longest active drought in the NFL.

Brown's impact started with injecting life into a dormant run game. Chicago rushed for 179 yards on 34 carries against the Packers. Williams played a significant role on the ground, too, recording a career-high 70 rushing yards on nine attempts.

Many of those instances came with Williams relying on his instincts and knowing when to use his physical skills to gain extra yards. That's what Brown asked the rookie to do earlier in the week.

"I think being able to understand how to get the ball out of his hands as fast as possible when it comes to the concepts we kind of dial up, but also being able to let him use his natural god-given ability at times, when it's relevant," Brown said of helping Williams succeed.

The quick throws helped keep Williams away from pressure too -- a point of emphasis for the Bears after he was sacked 15 times in two games. Williams was pressured on seven of his 39 dropbacks (18%) against Green Bay after being pressured 34% of the time in Weeks 1-10.

But perhaps the most tangible change for Williams came with the voice he heard inside his headset. Eberflus cited "in-game communication" as one of Chicago's primary problems that led to Waldron's ousting.

"I think us being in control, Thomas being in control, just getting a few calls in super fast," Williams said. "As soon as a play happened, Thomas was right on the headset giving me the play.

"From there, I think he just strung plays together pretty well, and formations and motions and everything looked the same."

Whatever success the Bears enjoyed with the move to Brown does not erase the fact Williams is on his second offensive coordinator, and he is only 10 games into his career. And there's a chance he'll be on No. 3 -- and perhaps a new head coach -- to start next season.

Luke Getsy was the Bears' OC last season, but he was fired in January, hired by the Las Vegas Raiders before the season and fired again on Nov 4. That does not speak well of Eberflus' ability to pick an offensive coordinator, and the head coach took full responsibility.

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A revolving door at OC is considered a surefire way to restrict the development of a young quarterback. Giants owner John Mara saw it coming with Daniel Jones, drafted No. 6 overall in 2018.

"We've done everything possible to screw this kid up since he's been here," Mara said in January 2022. "We keep changing coaches, keep changing offensive coordinators, keep changing offensive line coaches.

"I take a lot of responsibility for that. Let's bring in the right group of coaches now, give him some continuity, try to rebuild the offensive line and try to make an intelligent evaluation of whether he can be the franchise quarterback or not."

On Monday, Jones was benched in favor of backup Tommy DeVito.

"I think every situation is different," said Sam Darnold, who's succeeding with the Minnesota Vikings after enduring OC changes in Carolina. "Nothing really changed for me.

"I think the biggest thing was sticking to my routine, making sure that I was doing everything I could to prepare myself to be able to play really good football when Sunday came around. That was really the biggest thing."

That was the same philosophy Mason Rudolph embraced in Pittsburgh last season when the Steelers fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada and made quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan the team's primary offensive playcaller.

"When we had that happen, I appreciated how Mike Sullivan let me come in and meet with the staff on Monday and Tuesday, especially Tuesday, our off day," Rudolph said. "We went through the dropback plays and the quick-game passing plays, and I told him what I liked and didn't like.

"They took my input, which I appreciated. But you can't make too many massive overhauls, because you're in-season."

Contributing: Turron Davenport, Jordan Raanan and Kevin Seifert