Job of Rescuing Bears Chase Claypool Trade Falls to Pittsburgh Native Luke Getsy

MOBILE, Ala. — Right now, the Chicago Bears trade for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool in the middle of the 2022 season looks like a boondoggle.

The Bears traded Claypool for their second-round selection, which has become the 32nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, after the Bears finished the season on a 10-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, Claypool got hurt, played in only seven games with the Bears, and caught 14 passes for 140 yards and no touchdowns. Despite a lacking receiver room led by Darnell Mooney and Dante Bettis, Claypool was unable to establish himself as a big part of the Chicago offense.

The only way forward is to fix that, and the man with that job is Pittsburgh-area native, Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

Getsy is the head coach of the American Team at this week’s Senior Bowl, as the event has moved to an all-star coaching staff of assistants working at higher levels than their primary gig.

“It is an opportunity,” Getsy said. “I see it as that. This is a really unique opportunity to get some exposure to desires that I have and goals I have. And then on top of that, this is a great opportunity for to get in-depth evaluations that are really going to help us moving forward.”

Getsy is no stranger to moving up the coaching ladder. The former Steel Valley and Pitt quarterback was an offensive coordinator at Division II West Virginia Wesleyan in 2009, just two years after his playing career ended.

He got his first NFL break as quality control coach for the Green Bay Packers in 2014 and was promoted to wide receivers coach in 2016. Getsy returned to the college ranks for one season as Mississippi State’s offensive coordinator in 2018, then was quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the Packers from 2019-21.

After his first season as an NFL coordinator, Getsy is already being looked at as a potential future head coach by his appointment at the Senior Bowl. But wrangling 60 college seniors into playing shape this week won’t be near as tough of a task as fixing the Bears offense and saving the Claypool trade on the home front.

That will be easier said than done. The Bears, who have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, have committed to Justin Fields at quarterback going forward. So it won’t be a big change in personnel that sparks Claypool’s resurgence. Instead, it will be Getsy figuring out how to get the most out of the talented receiver.

“I don’t think we have that figured out just yet,” Getsy said. “But I see him getting a lot of opportunities. He’s somebody we need to play at a really high level. He’s capable of that. He’s done that in the past. We’ve got to get the most out of him and he wants that, too. The best thing is that he’s got his feet wet in Chicago, with what we’re doing now, so we can get into the offseason and take off.”

If Getsy can accomplish that, and turn around the No. 28 offense in the league from a year ago, the head coaching experience he’s getting this week at the Senior Bowl might be useful in the near future.

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