NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bears’ list of known offensive coordinator candidates grew this week when they requested to interview Rams assistant Zac Robinson.
Robinson will reportedly interview for the position today. Robinson joins Greg Olson and Greg Roman as confirmed interviewees. In addition to these three candidates, the team has requested interviews with five other candidates, bringing the number of known candidates to eight this morning.
Getting to Know Bears Offensive Coordinator Candidates: Shane Waldron | Klint Kubiak | Liam Coen | Greg Olson | Greg Roman | Thomas Brown | Marcus Brady
Who is Zac Robinson?
Robinson, who is 37 years old, has been coaching with the Los Angeles Rams since 2019. It’s worth noting that he is yet another branch of the Sean McVay coaching tree. The Bears seem to have a particular type of coach in mind as they search for an offensive coordinator, and Robinson’s experience fits the bill.
He has held various coaching titles, including Assistant QBs Coach in 2019 and 2021, Assistant WRs Coach in 2020, and Pass Game Coordinator and QBs Coach since 2022. However, he has no play-calling experience, which could negatively impact his hiring chances.
Despite this, Robinson’s resume is still worth looking into as a potential candidate for the Bears. Additionally, Robinson’s history as a player is worth noting. He was a seventh-round pick in 2010 by the New England Patriots but did not play in a regular-season game during his brief NFL career.
Robinson also spent time with the Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, and Cincinnati Bengals before transitioning to a post-playing career. It’s also worth mentioning that Robinson was a former Pro Football Focus employee, a career path that has worked out well for Bobby Slowik. If the Bears want their offensive coordinators to use their brains, Robinson’s background makes him a strong contender for the position.
Relevant Experience
Potential Fit
While Robinson fits into the Los Angeles Rams/Sean McVay bucket that is pretty full at this point in the Bears’ search for their next offensive coordinator, he lacks the play-calling experience that some of the other candidates have under their belt.
Despite lacking the play-calling experience, Robinson is a highly intriguing candidate whose name has been mentioned as a potential up-and-coming player in the OC field around the league.
New Orleans has also requested to interview Robinson for their OC opening. The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen has mentioned Robinson as a potentially perfect fit for the Raiders if they hire interim head coach Antonio Pierce full-time.
Robinson’s time at Pro Football Focus is an interesting part of his résumé. As I mentioned, Houston Texans OC Bobby Slowik also worked at PFF. Why does it matter? Here’s what Robinson said about his time at PFF:
“The amount of stuff that helped me [be a better coach] from PFF was huge,” Robinson said. “Preparing for that interview, I was able to take a deep dive into the 2018 season for the Rams. I knew a lot about their offense. I’d watched every single pass snap and had studied their film a bunch and really was able to take a deep dive in terms of Jared Goff’s quarterback fundamentals and their scheme, and all of that helped me in terms of preparation for the interview. I ended up getting the job the next day.
“All the experience with PFF and being able to reference things that Sean would bring up in the interview with other teams around the league. ‘Have you seen Drew Brees take three steps on his quick game from the gun?’ Being able to have the knowledge from watching and seeing all the snaps around the league pass-wise that season was huge. It all came together, but no doubt the help from PFF and having access to watching every single snap was instrumental in helping me get the job.”
My Two Cents
I mentioned Zac Robinson as a candidate that the Bears should give a long look to in The Bleacher Nation Newsletter the other day — and I meant it. Robinson is one of the more intriguing candidates in the pool for me right now.
He’s worked closely under McVay and with the quarterbacks in Los Angeles, and he’s played a role in getting the most out of those quarterbacks and winning a Super Bowl. Robinson is regarded as one of the brightest offensive minds in the league and will get an offensive coordinator job quickly.
My only pause with Robinson is that I don’t trust Matt Eberflus to leave him alone and let him completely control the offense. With his lack of play-calling experience, I feel like Eberflus would expect to have some say in the offense, which he should have absolutely nothing to do with.
If the Bears were to roll the dice on an up-and-comer like Robinson, they would have to allow him full autonomy of the offense.
Unlike the last couple of OC interviews that have been announced, Robinson truly intrigues me. It would be a gamble, but so was DeMeco Ryans hiring Bobby Slowik to be his OC last year. That worked out pretty well for all parties involved.
