How small beginnings shaped Shane Waldron into the Chicago Bears' OC, and Caleb Williams' NFL tutor

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - When the Cincinnati Bengals visited Halas Hall for a joint practice on August 19, Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron reminisced with Bengals’ head coach Zac Taylor.

The two worked for Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and became coveted names on the coaching circuit because of it.

When they weren't calling offenses, they were drawing it all out. Literally.

"Zac Taylor and I were talking about drawing pictures for Sean McVay," Waldron said. "Maybe that's not your be all end all goal, you do the best job in that job that you have knowing what you want to do as a future as a coach."

The McVay pipeline, often known for its offensive system that revolutionized the NFL in 2018 and began an infusion of young offensive-minded coaches, elevating Taylor to head coach in 2019 and Waldron to an offensive coordinator position in 2021.

A stop in Los Angeles under McVay did indeed help launch Waldron’s career. It’s partially why Russell Wilson advocated for Waldron to be his offensive coordinator in Seattle.

Before Waldon got the McVay lift, however, he created his career in plenty of other stops at the collegiate, high school and United Football League levels. Those smaller levels were the foundation for what Waldron turned into an opportunity to be the main offensive mind leading Caleb Williams’ development in perhaps the most crucial season for the Chicago Bears’ offense in franchise history.

"Had a lot of different stops along the way," Waldron said. "I think each one of them just tried to learn and be a little bit better on the next stop."

Two of Waldron’s former bosses explain how the former college tight end and long snapper earned the opportunity to tutor Williams and lead the Chicago Bears' offense.

It wasn’t because Waldron was a gifted prodigy or an offensive savant ahead of his time.

Those who oversaw Waldron then now regard him as someone who made a difference by the way he worked, assisting behind the scenes in supportive ways that left an indelible and unforgettable mark even in the decade past.

"Shane was one of those guys that could literally go from the highest level to the lowest level, and the transition was incredibly easy because the bottom line is he's literally the nicest guy you ever wanted to meet, number one," New England Elite Football Clinic founder John Papas said. "Number two, he cares about people, he cares about players, he cares about other coaches."

The ‘right-hand man’ at Notre Dame

Charlie Weis was in a bit of a bind.

In December 2004, he just accepted the head coaching position at Notre Dame. The only problem was he was also the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, and needed to be in two places at once.

To make matters even trickier, Weis wanted to do all of this while doing right by his old boss: Bill Belichick.

"One of the things I didn't want to do was take any of the regular position coaches with me because I had such a good relationship with Belichick," Weis said. "But I needed somebody to help me through."

With Belichick’s blessing, Weis took Shane Waldron with him. This was Waldron, the operations intern who was promoted to operations assistant in 2004 and just two years removed from playing tight end and long snapping for Tufts University.

That’s how Waldron got his start at the college level with the Fighting Irish as a graduate assistant.

It wasn’t going to be a long-term position – graduate assistants are only allowed to stay in that position for up to two years – but Weis still got the guy he needed.

Waldron, with his time working in operations with the Patriots under his belt, became one of the most important pieces of Weis’ transition to Notre Dame. Then, he was introduced to the coaching world full-time.

"Before we even got to the coaching part, he was kind of like my early right-hand man," Weis said. "When we got settled and had the staff all hired, then it was let him get over there and get involved in coaching."

From there, the coaching experience came. That opened up an opportunity to return to New England in 2008 as the Patriots’ quality control coach when his him as a graduate assistant ended.

Weis saw plenty during that time. He saw Waldron’s communication skills, intelligence and work ethic shine, three things Weis said Waldron needed to have. Those were the traits Weis had when he began working his way up the coaching staff, starting as an assistant special teams coach and a defensive quality control coach.

Still, what cemented Waldron’s return to New England was a phone call from Weis to Belichick, recommending the former graduate assistant. Waldron earned that recommendation two years prior.

"Forget about coaching one down, he earned it with me from when he started doing my grunt work when I was working the two jobs in New England," Weis said. "He had already earned his stripes with me because he had done a wonderful job."

‘Like Picasso knocking on your front door’

Waldron’s young career took a turn in 2011.

After coaching at Notre Dame and rejoining the New England Patriots, Waldron took a job with the Hartford Colonials in the United Football League as the Colonials receivers coach.

Waldron was there for one season. The team folded in the summer of 2011. NFL jobs were all filled by then, which left Waldron without a coaching job.

He wasn’t unemployed for too long. Waldron tried his old college coach.

Papas was the head football coach at the Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School in 2011, a spot where Papas had three state titles under his belt. 

It wasn’t unusual to hear from Waldron; Papas said he remained tight with the player he coached at Tufts. He remembers Waldron had an question.

"We were shooting the breeze one day," Papas recalled, "He said, ‘Pap… I’m not coaching this year, would you mind if came over and helped you out?’"

As it so happened, Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School had a vacancy: offensive coordinator.

Papas knew about Waldron’s background, who he worked with and who influenced him. It was a gift that fell into Papas’ lap.

"It’d be like Picasso knocking on your front door saying ‘you need your house painted?’" Papas said. "Yeah, that'd be great."

That led to the 2011 season at the Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School, where Waldron dipped his toes into the high school level.

Papas talked about the fun he had that season, and how one of the few people upset with Waldron’s hire was Papas’ wife. Only because Papas would stay so late after practice with Waldron talking about Notre Dame and his experiences, wondering how things went at the higher levels.

However, the way Waldron impressed the most at BB&N wasn’t with his background or his acumen, both of which were well-regarded among the players and coaches. He did so as a volunteer offensive coordinator.

"It wasn't like he came in as a know-all," Papas said. "Instead of him coming in saying, this is the way I think you should do it, he basically learned what we did and then brought it to another level, which was great for us."

Waldron fully immersed himself in the high school scene, too.

One of Papas’ outstanding memories from the 2011 season with Waldron was a wet and cold New England day. As dusk was coming on, Waldron was there with quarterback Chris Coady working on quarterback-center exchanges near the end of the season.

In a scene Papas could only be described as something from the hand of artist Norman Rockwell, the long-time football coach said to himself: "There's not many coaches, no matter what level it is that would be doing what he's doing right now."

"That would probably be the moment that I knew he would rise to where he has," Papas said.

From small beginnings… to tutoring Caleb Williams

In January, the Chicago Bears needed a specific kind of offensive coordinator.

They needed one that understood how to work with quarterbacks, but also one that could change their tune at a moment’s notice. The Bears and head coach Matt Eberflus, after all, were in the middle of making a crucial decision: stay with Justin Fields, or draft a quarterback at No. 1 overall.

Waldron was on the market after Seattle head coach Pete Carroll and the Seahawks mutually agreed Carroll would step down as head coach and take an advisory role with the team.

The Bears moved quickly to hire Waldron, who had plenty of options around the league.

Like his return to New England in 2009, Waldon got another recommendation from a former boss. His boss also happened to be a Super Bowl-winning former boss.

"I had a real long conversation with Pete when that whole thing went down," Eberflus said at the NFL Combine. "We were in the interview process and he just gleaned about Shane and talked about him at length, about his ability to adapt and adjust and what he did with the quarterbacks that were there in Seattle."

That ability to adapt stems from the start of Waldron’s career.

Going from the NFL to the college, UFL and prep ranks prepared Waldron for the biggest steps. Not only did he learn how to flourish in each different space, he learned how to embrace them all.

It led to Waldron earning his chance with the Los Angeles Rams, being Russell Wilson’s desired offensive coordinator in Seattle and, now, to be the architect of a Bears’ offense with the quarterback it’s always desired and the weapons its always needed.

The challenge goes beyond that, especially working with Eberflus who will still have a hand in defensive play calling.

Waldron won’t be on his own – Eberflus is still working with Caleb Williams and the offense, and Waldron has his offensive staff – but there is a level of independence Waldron has to understand is needed.

"An offensive coordinator on a staff, where there’s a coach that's forte is defense, is an integral part and has to have great management skills because you have to be able to work with the head coach to then work with all your assistants and work with all the players," Weis said. "It's almost like you're coaching half the team."

Waldron is up to that task. Getting to that level of expertise and confidence wasn’t simple, but considering the routes Waldron took to Chicago no task is too big or too beneath him. That’s because there’s a good chance he’s done it all.

"No path is always straight," Waldron said.

No matter who you ask, Waldron found a way to pave his own path. That route led him to Chicago.

"He's got it all," Papas said.