Familiarity, leading to continuity: What Chad Morton, Thomas Brown bring to the Chicago Bears' offense
CHICAGO, Ill. - Now that the Chicago Bears offensive staff is reportedly in place, one interesting trend has emerged.
There’s experience, but there’s also familiarity.
That equals continuity the Bears haven’t had on offense, well, you can argue since the Ron Turner era in the 2000s.
Here’s what each hire brings to the team.
Thomas Brown, pass game coordinator
Jokes aside about the Sean McVay coaching tree, Brown’s hiring is significant.
The Athletic profiled Brown in 2022, and he, as an assistant head coach for the Los Angeles Rams, was earning head coach interviews at age 36. That wasn’t by accident.
He takes that rising profile to the Bears as the team’s passing game coordinator under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs first reported Brown’s hiring.
Thomas is a rising young talent in the coaching community. He was the Panthers’ offensive coordinator last season, working with Bryce Young, but Frank Reich’s firing left him without a position.
This offseason, he wasn’t without opportunity, either. The Titans interviewed him for their head coaching job, and the Steelers and Patriots interviewed him for their offensive coordinator positions.
Brown, now 37, also interviewed with the Bears for their offensive coordinator opening but will join newly hired Waldron, but the two aren’t unfamiliar. Brown and Waldron worked together on the Rams staff in 2020.
That continuity will help, especially when considering the Bears’ quarterback position is still unsettled, and will probably remain so until April.
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Head coach Pete Carroll and running backs coach Chad Morton of the Seattle Seahawks celebrate running back Rashaad Penny's touchdown to take a 14-7 lead in the first quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November
Chad Morton, running backs coach
Waldron’s experience lies in quarterbacks, but hiring Morton is a sign he wants a similar kind of rushing attack for his Bears’ offense.
Enter Morton, who the Chicago Sun-Times Jason Leiser reported will join the Bears, who will bring exactly that.
Consider the backs Morton has worked with since he became Seattle’s running backs coach in 2017, and that should excite Roschon Johnson.
Under Morton, Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny and Kenneth Walker III have been successful. Carson and Walker III have broken the 1,000-yard mark under Morton, too.
Walker, a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, is the Seahawks’ primary back now after rushing for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns in two seasons. Johnson, who has a similar rugged running style, should be able to develop into a bigger role.
Depending on who else is in the Chicago Bears’ running back room, having Johnson and Kahlil Herbert is already a complimentary one-two punch.
Working with Waldron as the Seahawks run game coordinator in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the Seattle run game scored 12 touchdowns and averaged 4.8 yards per carry. In 2023, those numbers dipped to 4.1 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns but are still similar.
It should be noted Waldron’s offense has one primary back, which was Walker III, with a talented backup, Penny in 2022 and rookie Zach Charbonnet in 2023. The Bears’ one-two punch is already similar. However, D’onta Foreman was effective when Johnson and Herbert missed time.
No matter who else joins the room, Morton has experience getting backs, especially rookies, up to speed on what the run game needs from them.
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