Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus are working on revamping their coaching staff.

After firing five coaches earlier this month, including offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, the Bears began the offseason seeking at least new offensive and defensive coordinators and position coaches for the quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs.

On Tuesday, the Bears officially announced the hiring of former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator. A deal had been reported Monday to be in the works.

“This was a very exhaustive search, but in the end I’m grateful the journey led us to Shane,” Eberflus said in a statement. “He is a great teacher and communicator with a diverse coaching background among some of the game’s most elite head coaches. I look forward to partnering with him as we build out the rest of the staff and get him started here.”

Waldron said in a statement: “I appreciate this opportunity given to me by Coach Eberflus and Ryan Pole. We can’t wait to get to work at a franchise with such a storied history and passionate fan base.”

Here’s how the offensive coordinator hiring process unfolded.

Jan. 18

The Bears are expected to interview former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, ESPN reported.

The rundown: Kingsbury, 44, spent this past season as a senior offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach at USC, where potential No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams played. The Bears are getting deeper into their evaluations of Williams as they determine whether to draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick this spring. Williams threw for 3,633 yards with 30 touchdowns and five interceptions in 12 games in 2023.

In four seasons as the Cardinals coach, Kingsbury was 28-37-1. The Cardinals fired him last January following a 4-13 season after the team made the playoffs a year earlier behind quarterback Kyler Murray. Before that, Kingsbury was the head coach for six seasons at Texas Tech, where he coached quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

He also was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M and Houston. Kingsbury played quarterback at Texas Tech and in the NFL, NFL Europe and CFL.

The Bears are interviewing Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported.

The rundown: Robinson, 37, has been part of Sean McVay’s coaching staff in Los Angeles for the last five seasons and in his current role the last two years. In 2021, Robinson also served as Matthew Stafford’s quarterbacks coach as Stafford matched a career high with 41 touchdown passes and led the Rams to a Super Bowl title.

This season Robinson contributed to a passing offense that ranked in the top 10 in yards and yards per play.

Robinson was a standout quarterback at Oklahoma State and a seventh-round selection by the New England Patriots in 2010. He spent four seasons in the NFL with the Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bears have requested an interview with Philadelphia Eagles senior offensive assistant Marcus Brady, ESPN reported.

The rundown: Brady, 44, spent the 2023 season on Nick Sirianni’s Eagles staff after five seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

He worked on the same Colts coaching staff as Bears coach Matt Eberflus for four years under Frank Reich, though on the opposite side of the ball from Eberflus. With the Colts, Brady rose from assistant quarterbacks coach (2018) to quarterbacks coach (2019-20) and then to offensive coordinator (2021-22) after Sirianni left for the Eagles. The Colts offense was one of the best in the league at running the ball in 2021, but it ranked 27th in total yards per game with 311.6 in 2022.

Brady also spent nine seasons coaching in the Canadian Football League.

Jan. 17

The Bears are interviewing Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, The Athletic reported.

The rundown: Brown, 37, completed his first year as the Panthers coordinator after three seasons with the Rams, with whom he won a Super Bowl under McVay.

The Panthers struggled behind rookie quarterback Bryce Young in 2023, averaging a league-worst 265.3 yards per game. With the Rams, Brown coached running backs and then tight ends and had the title of assistant head coach in his last two seasons.

The former Georgia running back was a running backs coach in college for eight seasons, including with Wisconsin, Georgia, South Carolina and Miami, where he also was the offensive coordinator. Brown also is scheduled to interview with the Tennessee Titans for their head coaching position.

Jan. 15

The Bears interviewed former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, NFL Network’s Peter Schrager reported.

The rundown: Roman, 51, is a longtime NFL coach who served as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Ravens. Among his accomplishments is crafting the Ravens offense around dual-threat quarterback Lamar Jackson and helping Jackson to an MVP season in his second year in 2019. The Ravens had the best rushing offense in the league that year.

However, Roman and the Ravens parted after the 2022 season after the offense declined. The Ravens went from averaging 33.2 points in 2019 to 20.6 in 2022.

Jan. 12

The Bears interviewed Seahawks quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The rundown: Olson, 60, has been a college and NFL quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator since 1990. He has extensive experience as an NFL offensive coordinator, holding the position with the Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Oakland and Las Vegas Raiders in separate stints and Jacksonville Jaguars.

He most recently was the Seahawks quarterbacks coach in 2023 and a senior offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. Olson spent the 2003 season as the Bears quarterbacks coach.

The Bears planned to interview Kentucky offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Liam Coen, CBS Sports reported.

The rundown: Coen, 38, has one season of NFL offensive coordinator experience with the Rams in 2022, though McVay called the plays. He was an assistant wide receivers coach and assistant quarterbacks coach with the Rams from 2018-20.

Beyond that, Coen has been a college quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator since 2010 at Brown, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and most recently Kentucky in 2021 and 2023.

Jan. 11

The Bears planned to interview 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak, ESPN reported.

The rundown: Kubiak, 36, is in his first season with the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan. Before that, he was the Denver Broncos passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022 for Russell Wilson and their QBs coach from 2016-18.

Kubiak, the son of longtime NFL coach Gary Kubiak, also worked for the Minnesota Vikings as offensive coordinator in 2021 and quarterbacks coach from 2019-20, working with Kirk Cousins.

Jan. 10

The Bears requested an interview with Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, NFL Network reported.

The rundown: Waldron, 44, was the Seahawks offensive coordinator the last three seasons, helping quarterback Geno Smith to a comeback season in 2022. Before that, he spent four seasons with the Rams as passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach under McVay.

He also served as an offensive assistant with the Patriots (2008-09) and Washington (2016) and worked in operations with the Patriots early in his career. He has coached in college, high school and the UFL.

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Thriving defensively, Cretin-Derham Hall will again be crossing the Mississippi River for more basketball.

Smothering its opponent early led to a comfortable cushion, resulting in a second half that was never in doubt, and the Raiders beat Tartan 59-45 in the Class 4A, Section 4 final Thursday.

Monteff Dixon scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, Anthony Knight had 15, and Miles Bollinger overcame early foul trouble to net 12.

It’s the second-lowest point total of the season for the Raiders. But it was enough.

“We knew they were going to play Joe Mitchell tight, so other guys had to step up offensively. And then trying to keep Tartan to one shot and out was the biggest thing for us. So getting stops on defense, executing on offense kind of putting a complete game together,” Knight said.

Mitchell, a Division I prospect who averages nearly 20 points a game, had eight.

It’s the third section title in four seasons, and sixth in eight years for Cretin-Derham Hall (24-4). The Raiders lost to East Ridge in a section semifinal last year.

Big school state tournament quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday at Target Center. Brackets are to be announced Saturday.

“It’s fun. I’m excited. I’m short for words,” Bollinger said.

In its semifinal win over St. Paul Central, the Raiders were down 12 early. They had a much better start in the final. Mitchell had five points, and four Raiders scored in a 13-2 run for 25-11 lead.

Playing with a bruised heel, Knight scored with 5.6 seconds left in the first half for a 33-18 lead.

“He’s our senior, he’s our competitor, and he just answered the bell today,” said coach Jerry Kline. “We knew they weren’t going to guard him. … He stepped up. That’s what seniors do in March.”

A 3-pointer by Bollinger made it 41-23 early in the second half, and Tartan got no closer than 14 at the end.

Dixon, a 6-foot-5 junior in his third year of basketball, had just one first-half bucket, but scored 14 of the final 18 Cretin-Derham Hall points, including short jumpers, a scoop, layup and a steal and dunk.

“He’s an animal. He’s tough, he’s big, He was relentless tonight,” Kline said.

Cedric Banks led the Titans (24-5) with 17 points, but Tartan was held to its lowest point total of the season and scored fewer than 60 for just the third time.

“We just overall didn’t play very well,” said coach Mark Klingsporn. “Our defensive game plan was fine. We held them to 59 points on their home court. We just didn’t perform on offense.”

Looking to make the tournament for the first time since 2014, Tartan struggled with turnovers, poor outside shooting and couldn’t get it to the big men inside.

“We played so unselfish, we played so hard. We’re where we need to be and we just played with a lot of fight and a lot of energy,” Kline said.

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In a last, desperate push to make the playoffs, the Wild are taking care of their own business, and it finally appears to be paying dividends.

Zach Bogosian and Kirill Kaprizov scored goals, and Marc-Andre Fleury earned his 75th career shutout as the Wild beat the Anaheim Ducks, 2-0, on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild jumped idle St. Louis for ninth place in the Western Conference, and within four points of eighth-place Vegas pending their 8 p.m. puck drop in Calgary. Minnesota plays the Golden Knights twice more among their final 15 regular-season games.

Fleury, who has started the past three Wild games, made 17 saves and improved to 9-2-0 in his past 13 games, 11 of them starts, since Jan. 13.

With his second shutout of the season, Fleury is one shy of tying Tony Esposito for 10th on the NHL’s career list. Already this season, Fleury has become the fourth NHL goalie to play 1,000 games and passed Martin Brodeur for second in career wins, which is now 560.

It was a tight defensive effort against the Ducks, who didn’t get their 11th shot on goal until 2:16 into the third period. They briefly appeared to pull within a goal early in the third period, but the Wild challenged and it was waived off for offsides.

The Ducks pulled goaltender Lukas Dostal with 2:31 remaining but Minnesota was active in its end, clearing the puck a few times and getting line changes as the Wild preserved the shutout.

Minnesota completed a three-game homestand against Anaheim, Arizona and Nashville 3-0 and has improved to 12-4-2 since returning from the all-star break on Feb. 7. In their last two games before the break, and closer to a playoff spot then held by the Predators, the Wild failed to earn a point against Nashville and Anaheim.

Day to day

The Wild were without Joel Eriksson Ek on Thursday after he left Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over Arizona early with a lower body injury, and it was unclear whether he would travel with the Wild for Saturday’s game at St. Louis.

Still, the Wild have to feel good about their top center’s status. “I would call it day to day right now,” coach John Hynes told reporters after Thursday’s morning skate.

That prognosis hasn’t always been followed by a quick return, but the Wild do expect Eriksson Ek — who leads the team with a plus-16, and is second in goals (29) and points (60) — back for most of the team’s last 15 regular-season games.

Briefly

Center Marat Khusnutdinov made his NHL debut on Thursday. Playing center on the third line with Marcus Foligno and Freddie Gaudreau, the young Russian who just finished his fourth KHL season, played 11:54. He didn’t register a shot but won 6 of 9 faceoffs. … Foligno, who has been playing with a nagging lower body injury, missed his second straight morning skate on Thursday — and it will probably be that way for the rest of the season. “I would think so,” Hynes said. “Particularly on morning skates, that he will not skate and just be ready for the games.”

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Minnesota’s new top line was born out of necessity. Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center it had the look of a keeper.

Taylor Heise, Kendall Coyne Schofield and the latest addition, Michela Cava, combined for three goals and five points as Minnesota beat Boston 4-0 before an announced crowd of 4,669.

Cava replaces Abby Boreen, who has played out her second 10-day contract and will not be available for the remainder of the regular season.

“I thought they had good chemistry,” coach Ken Klee said. “I’ve watched Michela Cava play, and she doesn’t have a lot of points but she makes good plays every night. So, to me, if I can get Kendall and Taylor with a player who can get them the puck and make plays, they’re going to get chances.

“And I thought they did. A couple of really nice plays.”

Minnesota goaltender Nicole Hensley made 20 saves to pick up her first shutout of the season and lower her goals-against average to 1.79.

The victory moves Minnesota into a tie for first place with Toronto and Montreal in the Professional Women’s Hockey League standings.

The 29-year-old Cava, who played her final two collegiate seasons at Minnesota Duluth,  entered the game with one goal and one assist in 16 games. She said she felt comfortable playing alongside two of Minnesota’s most gifted players.

“We all use speed,” Cava said. “I felt like we supported each other really well. We were trying to move together, and got a lot of pucks to the net. It’s huge honor and awesome to play with the two of them.”

Boreen, who began the season on Minnesota’s reserve list while she attends pharmacy school, scored four goals in nine games and was one of Minnesota’s most effective forwards. Should Minnesota make the playoffs, the former Gophers star can sign one more 10-day contract.

In the meantime, she will be missed.

“She brings an element that we don’t have a lot of,” Klee said, “with that hard-nosed, gritty winger type of player. But at the time, when we were short two centers, it was the time to activate her.”

Coyne Schofield got the scoring started at 18:12 of the first period, taking a centering pass from Heise out of the right-wing corner and beating Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel on a wrist shot from the slot for her fifth goal of the season.

Cava scored at 6:43 of the second period. She corralled the puck near the Boston goal after a wide shot from the point caromed off the boards and banked it in off of Frankel from a sharp angle.

Grace Zumwinkle added a power-play goal at 14:43 of the third period, her team-leading eighth goal of the season. Heise closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal at 17:57.

Minnesota’s victory came in the second game of a four-game homestand that began with a 4-3 overtime win over Ottawa on March 5. The homestand will take Minnesota into a month-long break for the Women’s World Championship.

Minnesota will have only five regular-season games remaining following the break. Klee said there was no need to emphasize to the team how important this stretch of games will be.

“They know when you’re home you’ve got to win games,” he said. “Our last five, we play four out of five on the road. We’ve got a couple more games at home before the break and we just have to try to get as many points as we can.”

Offered Hensley; “We’re looking at a pretty long break, and obviously you want to go into that break with momentum. Enjoy today, but shift our focus to New York (on Saturday) here pretty quick.”

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