10 Most Important Bears of 2023: #4 Luke Getsy

Luke Getsy came to the Chicago Bears with a lot of fanfare due to his background and the offense he would bring with him. His coaching tree could be traced back through two prominent paths, the first of which is Joe Moorhead, which has an uptempo style, features run pass options (RPOs), quarterback options and designed QB runs, and uses a lot of 11 personnel (1 RB/1 TE). Getsy also worked with Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, and LaFleur’s roots are firmly entrenched in the Shanahan offense, with a zone blocking scheme, bootlegs and play actions, and a lot of formational window dressing.

Getsy’s first year with the Bears saw him shift some of his philosophy on the fly as he worked through some personnel issues and got a feel for what he needed to do. The changes didn’t result in many wins, but thanks to the electrifying Justin Fields, Getsy’s offense had several exciting moments. Let’s take a closer look at some of the numbers from Pro Football Reference.

• His offense led the league in rushing yards but finished last in passing yards.
• They had the eighth most passing attempts on RPOs, with the twelfth most passing yards on those.
• On the RPOs that were runs, the Bears had the fifth most rushing attempts and fifth most rushing yards.
• The Bears ranked 24th in pass attempts on play action passes and 25th in passing yards.

And this chart shows where Getsy ranked in a few categories league-wide.

Getsy wanted a more NFL traditional offense, but he had to pivot and call more designed runs for his quarterback partly because Fields’ speed and elusiveness are ridiculous and partly because he didn’t have as many top receiving threats.

He did what he had to do for his offense to move the ball.

He was conservative at times, but he was also working with an incomplete offense, and he had to be wary of Chicago’s questionable defense.

The early part of the 2022 season was met with some weather challenges for the offense, there were some injury issues the team had to fight through late in the year, but there was that stretch around midseason where things were clicking.

Again, the wins weren’t there, but Chicago’s offense had some moments.

The Eagles’ offense, led by dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts, is the type of offense the Bears aspire to be. Last year they had averaged 389 yards per game, which was second in the league. Chicago was just 28th with 307 yards per game in 2022, but from weeks 6 through 10, they averaged 386 yards each game.

Sure it’s a small sample size, but it also shows the potential that Getsy has with Fields as his quarterback.

With upgrades all over the offense, and with it being year two of his scheme, Getsy should be able to open things up in the passing game, which is something head coach Matt Eberflus talked about this offseason. Fields understands the system better, which should allow him to play faster and orchestrate the offense between the lines more efficiently, and that all comes down to the coaching he gets from Getsy.

“Justin (Fields) is someone that’s super focused, works his tail off in every aspect of it,’ Getsy said last month about his QB via The Score’s Chris Emma. “The types of conversations we’re having right now in that room, we’re really on a different level than we were last year as far as where we can go with his growth.”

Changes to the offensive line, Darnell Mooney back from injury, Chase Claypool injury free and having a full offseason under his belt, a legit WR1 in DJ Moore on the team, a revamped running back room, and another viable tight end in Robert Tonyan, will allow Luke Getsy to grow as a play caller.

“Luke gets, you know, a little crazy with the creativity, and that’s why we love him,” Tonyan said last month after a Halas Hall workout via AtoZSports. “It’s [the playbook] very versatile. Personnel-wise, you can put anyone in there and run the same exact plays [through] different looks and the same formations, or a bunch of motions, or whatever it is. I think that’s [what makes] a good offense - is a lot of smoke and mirrors to get what you want accomplished. I’m just really excited to kind of be a part of the creativity that Luke has brought.”

Getsy’s offense should evolve in 2023, and if things go as well as they hope, this could be Getsy’s last year in Chicago because his profile around the league is that of an up-and-coming head coaching candidate.

His Shanahan-scheme lineage and work with the Packers put teams on notice, but his first year with the Bears was met with high marks. He was selected as head coach for the American Team at the 2023 Senior Bowl, which was another nod to how he’s viewed around the NFL. His week leading his team in Mobile did nothing to quell his future NFL head coach aspirations.

I know many Bears fans are concerned about Getsy having so much success that he’ll leave, but that’s exactly what good teams do. If Getsy can help elevate Justin Fields and the offense thrives, that means the arrow is pointing up for the franchise. Part of Getsy’s responsibilities as offensive coordinator is coaching up the offensive assistants, so if Getsy lands a head coach gig in 2024, then perhaps quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko or pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert will get promoted.

The 39-year-old Getsy has been coaching in some capacity since 2007, but this year will be his most important, not only for what he hopes the Bears can become but also for his personal goals of leading his own NFL team someday.