Bears Make Worrying Choice for Wide Receiver Coach Hiring

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles are continuing to build out the rest of the coaching staff heading into next season. 

Last week, the Bears hired Eric Williams as the next defensive coordinator and Shane Waldron as the offensive coordinator. Waldron’s staff is slowly taking shape as the Bears reportedly hired Chris Beatty on Tuesday as the new wide receivers coach, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

Beatty is replacing Tyke Tolbert, who was the wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator for the last two seasons. The veteran position coach spent the past three years with the Los Angeles Chargers, working with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Joshua Palmer, and rookie Quentin Johnston.

Allen and Williams have been stellar wide receivers over the last few years when healthy, while Palmer took a major step in 2022 (72 receptions for 769 yards and two touchdowns) but didn’t have the same success this season (38 receptions for 581 yards and two touchdowns).

And then there’s Johnston, who struggled mightily as a rookie this season. The former TCU star wide receiver had 38 receptions for 431 yards and two touchdowns. After an excellent final year in college, Johnston couldn’t necessarily find his footing as a rookie.

Bears fans hope that won’t be the case this upcoming season as they’ll hope for rookie wideout Tyler Scott to take another step in his development, along with any other wide receivers they add to the roster. 

However, Beatty is familiar with veteran wideout D.J. Moore, as they were at the University of Maryland together in 2016-17. 

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