Chicago Bears targeting Pep Hamilton to pair with Justin Fields

The Chicago Bears have a new head coach in place in the form of former Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. While the Bears have yet to conduct the introductory press conference for both Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles, the belief is that it will occur early next week. The reason for the delay is that Eberflus is spending this weekend interviewing coordinators for his offensive staff.

When the news of Eberflus becoming the new head coach of the Bears initially broke, it was met with instant criticism as the Bears did not hire an offensive-minded head coach to pair with second-year quarterback Justin Fields. The idea that the Bears need an offensive-minded head coach to pair with Fields is flawed logic.

In recent seasons, we have seen the emergence of young quarterbacks like the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen, Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert, Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, and New England Patriots’ Mac Jones. What do all of those quarterbacks have in common? They were all developed under head coaches that did not have a background as an offensive coordinator.

Further confirmation that the Bears do not need an offensive-minded head coach to develop a potential franchise quarterback in his second season in the NFL is because it is a strategy they tried before.

In 2018, the Bears hired former head coach Matt Nagy to develop second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Four seasons later, Nagy is fired and Trubisky is serving as backup quarterback to Allen with the Bills.

The Bears do not need an offensive-minded head coach to get the most out of Fields. What the Bears need is a competent offensive coaching staff that can develop Fields and schemes an offense around his skillset. Eberflus is aware of that fact and is already targeting prominent offensive coaches as his potential offensive coordinator.

The Chicago Bears are targeting a very good offensive coordinator for Justin Fields.

One of those offensive coaches is Houston Texans’ quarterback coach Pep Hamilton. ESPN 1000’s David Kaplan is reporting that Poles is spending Friday morning interviewing Hamilton for the team’s offensive coordinator position.

Hamilton would be a phenomenal pairing with Fields. He has assisted with the development of Andrew Luck when he was in college at Stanford and with the Indianapolis Colts, Herbert with the Chargers, and Davis Mills with the Houston Texans last season. There is no question that Hamilton knows how to develop/coach young quarterbacks and would work wonders for Fields.

The Bears did not ruin the development of Fields by hiring a defensive-minded head coach. Fields is still very much a part of the Chicago Bears’ long-term future and Eberflus needs to be trusted with hiring an offensive coaching staff that can maximize his potential.