After several weeks of extensive work, the Jacksonville Jaguars just announced their full coaching staff. Most of the additions have gotten positive reviews, but there's one that hasn't been as well received: Passing game coordinator Shane Waldron, who was dismissed nine games into the 2024 season for failing to get the Chicago Bears offense going. Compounding the issue is that a report came out that doesn't paint him in a favorable light.
Taylor Doll of the 2nd City Gridiron Streams said on the Making Monster podcasts that then-rookie Caleb Williams had to look for outside resources to study because Waldron wasn't breaking down tape with him. Things got so bad that Williams had to set up his own film room.
"The story I was thinking of when you're talking about, you don't really know Caleb Williams in the sense of how hard he can be coached or all of those things," Doll told guest Jeremy Reisman. "The one thing I will say now that everybody's fired, and there's certain things I couldn't say during the season."
Doll continued, "But stories I was hearing from people that I know that worked with Caleb in the offseason said that during the season before Shane Waldron was fired, he called them, said this outsource from the Bears organization, and was like, 'Can I hire somebody to go over film with me?' Because Shane Waldron is not."
"He built his own film study room in his house and was calling to try and hire somebody, because Shane Waldron was not working with him, and like, after games and going over film, yeah. So Caleb wants to learn. Caleb wants to get better."
There's no doubt that Waldron's time with the Bears left a stain. After all, he failed to develop WIlliams or get the Chicago offense going. To make matters worse, the Bears got a bit better once he left and the former USC Trojan finished strong. Add the latest report, and hiring him looks like a bad decision on the Jaguars' end.
On the other hand, Waldron had had various degrees of success in stints with the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams. With the Hawks, he helped Geno Smith enjoy a career revival. Before that, he played a massive role in fine-tuning the Rams' passing game.
Below is the full podcast, where you can hear Doll's exchange on Johnson and Waldron.
Why the addition of Shane Waldron to the Jaguars staff isn't a reason for concern
Shane Waldron surely played a role in the Chicago Bears' offensive struggles. On the other hand, the report might've overblown the negative effect he might have had.
For starters, Matt Eberflus is mostly responsible for the Bears' underwhelming season. Sure, Waldron oversaw the offense, but the buck stopped with the head coach. If Caleb Williams really had to look for outside help to study, don't you think he would let Eberflus know? If that went on for nine weeks, it shows a disconnect between the Bears' previous regime and its players.
Moreover, you would think this would've been a big scoop at the time, but it wasn't. In fact, it was just brought up recently, and the focus of the conversation was on Ben Johnson, not Waldron and Williams.
For the sake of the argument let's say that Waldron indeed failed to adjust to Williams and struggled to develop him. That sounds reasonable. He didn't have such an issue with Geno Smith in Seattle or Matthew Stafford with the Rams.
It's also worth noting that Waldron won't be tasked with developing Trevor Lawrence. That responsibility will go to offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and quarterbacks coach Spencer Whipple. Sure, the latest report doesn't make him look great, but he was brought to Jacksonville to oversee the passing game, his area of expertise, so it ultimately shouldn't be a reason for concern.
If it comes down to the worst, and Waldron ends up being a negative, the Jacksonville Jaguars can move on from him, and they won't miss a beat because they have other coaches who can pick up some of the slack and make up for his departure.
The bottom line is that the hiring of Shane Waldron isn't nearly as bad as it looks. In fact, it should be a net positive, even when you take the recent report into account.