Bears to interview Chargers WR coach Chris Beatty |
Now that Shane Waldron and Eric Washington have been appointed the new offensive and defensive coordinators for Matt Eberflus, it is time for them to round out the rest of their coaching staff. While the defensive side has yet to get underway, you have already seen Waldron get to work as he appointed his colleague from Seattle, Kerry Joseph, to be the team's next QB coach.
Waldron hasn't stopped there, as he has already been conducting interviews for other positions, including the WR coach. Just days after Sanjay Lal withdrew his name from the list after the Bears wanted to interview him, Waldron wasted no time adding other names to his list, with Chris Beatty being the next guy to interview for the vacant WR coach opening. Beatty spent the last few seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers as their WR coach, so this would be the same position he has held for several seasons. Either way, when you look at the growth that Keenan Allen and Mike Williams have had, especially in the past three seasons under Beatty, this is certainly worth looking into. The 50-year Beatty is no stranger to the coaching ranks, but with most of his experience at the collegiate level, it may be a red flag to some fans. His career started as a QB coach at Hampton University in 2006 before becoming a RB coach at Northern Illinois one year later. His first extended stay came at West Virginia in 2008 where he spent the next three seasons as the RB and slot WR coach. That was followed by one season at Vanderbilt as the WR coach, one season at Illinois as the Co-Offensive Coordinator and QB coach, two seasons at Wisconsin as the WR coach, and then one season at Virginia as the assistant head coach. It wasn't until 2017 when Beatty got his first big break, and it came when he arrived on the University of Maryland campus. After coaching their WR group in 2016, Beatty was promoted to Associate HC in 2017 and held that position through the 2018 season. He did that while still coaching up the WR group and played a massive role in the overall development of DJ Moore. That alone is a significant piece to the puzzle as Moore is now the No. 1 option in Chicago, so reuniting these two could be an interesting plot twist. It wasn't until 2019 when Beatty got his first opportunity in the NFL, landing with Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019-20 as their WR coach before heading to the Chargers the past three seasons to do the same gig. This is a well-traveled and experienced coach, but with most of his success in college, how will that look in the NFL? You have to start somewhere to be a coach in this league, so even if most of his time was spent at the NCAA level, you have to look at the overall production. Apart from a few seasons, most of the WR groups he worked with put up solid numbers, but his work in the NFL stands out. Take the Steelers for example. He helped make Dionte Johnson the player he is and was why Chase Claypool was one of the hottest young receivers early in his career. We have seen what happened to Claypool since then, so maybe Beatty deserves more credit than someone gave him. You then look at what he has been able to do with the Chargers. Sure, both Williams and Allen were always good wide receivers, but he has gotten them to play at a higher level, which has helped Justin Herbert put up the numbers he has. Even with Williams missing most of this season, you had Joshua Palmer come out of nowhere, and Beatty worked a lot with him behind the scenes to get him to that level. Beatty has gathered plenty of experience and information along the way, which has helped him get to where he is today. Wide receivers coach is one of three staff positions Chicago’s football team still has to fill this offseason. Having that connection to Moore could be why Beatty is being interviewed because if there is something behind that, Moore could be in line for an even bigger season ahead.
