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Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders are expected to hire Luke Getsy as their next offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler late Saturday night, confirming a report, hours after former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury removed himself from consideration with the Raiders expecting him to join coach Antonio Pierce’s staff.
Getsy, 39, fired by the Chicago Bears as offensive coordinator last month, was one of at least five candidates the Raiders interviewed for the vacant offensive playcaller position, along with Kingsbury, former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, Pittsburgh Steelers receivers coach Mike Sullivan and UCLA coach Chip Kelly. Van Pelt was hired to be the New England Patriots offensive coordinator while Kingsbury has been linked to the vacant Washington Commanders offensive coordinator position.
In his re-introductory media conference last month, Pierce said he wanted “minimum 24 points” out of a new offensive coordinator, after the Raiders averaged 19.5 points per game under former coach Josh McDaniels and interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree.
To average 24 points, the Raiders would need to score 408 points, a mark the Raiders have only hit three times since their 2002 Super Bowl season.
Pierce said an incoming offensive coordinator would have to be a teacher who can “adjust on the fly” during games.
“You’ve got to be able to run the football — play-action pass,” Pierce said. “What are the Raiders known for? The vertical passing game, right? We want to see the shots down the field. We want the explosive plays. That has to be a part of the creativity. You look at the shifts, the motions, all that stuff goes into it … just think of when [the] Raiders were playing really good football, and that’s going to be your offensive coordinator, hopefully, as we go forward.”
Getsy brings that run-heavy mentality that Pierce and new general manager Tom Telesco like, what with the Bears leading the NFL in rushing in 2022 (177.3 yards per game) and finishing second in 2023 (141.1).
That’s the good.
The bad? The Bears were last in passing offense in 2022 (130.5) and 27th last season (182.1), when they averaged 21.2 points per game.
Another potentially intriguing plot twist is Getsy’s relationship with Bears quarterback Justin Fields, who might be a Las Vegas trade target with the Raiders, who hold the No. 13 overall draft pick, likely to move on from veteran Jimmy Garoppolo and rookie Aidan O’Connell showing himself to be as serviceable as a backup as he was immobile in the pocket.
Getsy was fired in Chicago on Jan. 10, after the club decided to shake up the staff yet keep coach Matt Eberflus for the 2024 season. The Bears finished 7-10, tied for last place in the NFC North with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Raiders, meanwhile, went 8-9, including a lackluster 31-12 loss at Chicago and undrafted Division II Bears rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent in Week 7, a defeat that helped lead to McDaniels’ dismissal on Halloween. Fields was out with an injury that day.
Under Pierce, promoted from linebackers coach to interim coach, the Raiders went 5-4, 3-1 in the AFC West and handed the conference champion Kansas City Chiefs their most recent loss, on Christmas Day.
And though they scored 357 points, Raiders quarterbacks combined for just an 80.1 QBR rating.
In Chicago, player frustrations over the Bears’ offense showed several times during the 2023 season, beginning in Week 3 when Fields pointed to “coaching” as the reason behind his “robotic” play. Wide receiver DJ Moore also indicated a lack of consistent explosive plays caused Chicago to fall short.
“The growth and the development of the offense, to me, needed to be better than what it was,” Eberflus said after the season. “You look at the passing game, certainly that’s one aspect of it. And that’s where it is. We decided to move on from that.”
Getsy’s offense in Chicago ranked 17th in offensive points per game (20.4), its highest mark since ranking 11th in 2018, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Sports Illustrated was first to report news of Getsy’s hiring.