The Bears filled out their coaching staff late Tuesday by hiring Chad Morton as running backs coach, a source said. They hired passing-game coordinator Thomas Brown and wide receivers coach Chris Beatty earlier in the day.
New offensive coordinator Shane Waldron worked with Brown in 2020 with the Rams and had Morton on staff with the Seahawks the last three seasons; he has not worked with Beatty.
Morton, 46, got his start in coaching with the Packers in 2009 and left for the Seahawks in ’14. He worked his way up from special teams assistant to running backs coach and held that position from 2017 through this season, adding the position of running-game coordinator in ’22.
The Saints drafted him in the fifth round out of USC in 2000, and he was in the NFL for seven seasons with them, the Jets, Commanders and Giants.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus fired running backs coach David Walker three months ago for non-football reasons and fired his replacement, Omar Young, at the end of the season. Morton takes over a group featuring Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson as the top players at the position.
Updated Bears coaching staff under Eberflus:
OC: Shane Waldron*
QB: Kerry Joseph*
OL: Chris Morgan
TE: Jim Dray
WR: Chris Beatty*
RB: Chad Morton*
DC: Eric Washington*
DL: Travis Smith
LB: Dave Borgonzi
CB: Jon Hoke
S: Andre Curtis
STC: Richard Hightower
* - new hire
