Whatever direction the Chicago Bears go with their quarterback situation, the new infrastructure for development at the position is coming together.

Four days after hiring Shane Waldron as their offensive coordinator, the Bears added another assistant to the mix with Kerry Joseph following Waldron from Seattle to become the new quarterbacks coach on Matt Eberflus’ staff.

The Bears announced the move Friday evening.

Waldron and Joseph coached together for the last three seasons, with Joseph serving as the Seahawks assistant wide receivers coach in 2021 and assistant quarterbacks coach in 2022 and 2023. Now he will take on much bigger responsibilities inside the quarterbacks room at Halas Hall. At a pivotal time for the organization, he will be tasked with overseeing the growth of either three-year starter Justin Fields or a prospect selected in April’s draft.

Joseph was part of the offensive staff in Seattle in 2022, with Waldron and quarterbacks coach Dave Canales, when quarterback Geno Smith revived his career with a Pro Bowl season that also earned him Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year honors.

Joseph, 50, will serve as the quarterbacks coach for the American Team at the Senior Bowl next week. He replaces Andrew Janocko, whom the Bears fired along with coordinator Luke Getsy this month after the team’s passing offense ranked 27th in the NFL averaging 182.1 yards per game.

The Bears still need to hire wide receivers and running backs coaches to fill out their offensive staff. They also are interviewing defensive coordinator candidates.

Sanjay Lal, who spent the last two seasons as the Seahawks passing game coordinator and receivers coach, was in the mix for the Bears receivers coach job but decided Friday to explore other opportunities, according to a source. The Bears remain in competition to fill out their coaching staff, as eight teams entered the month in the hunt for new head coaches. Six of those vacancies have since been filled, with those teams working to fill out their staffs.

Before his time with the Seahawks, Joseph was the passing game coordinator and running backs coach at Southeastern Louisiana in 2019. He began his coaching career at McNeese State, where he was the co-offensive coordinator for three seasons and worked with the wide receivers and quarterbacks.

Joseph was also a quarterback at McNeese State but moved to safety in the NFL. He played in 56 games over four seasons with the Seahawks. He also played quarterback in the Canadian Football League and NFL Europe.

The Bears on Tuesday officially hired Waldron, who was the Seahawks offensive coordinator for three seasons after four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams.

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Yes, the Detroit Lions are in the Chicago Bears’ division. Yes, the Bears play them twice a year.

But we can’t help but root for the Lions as they make their improbable way through the NFL playoff gauntlet and are one win away from their first-ever Super Bowl appearance.

Chicagoans can relate. Lions Nation is one fan base that has seen almost nothing but failure in the nearly six decades that make up the Super Bowl era. One measly playoff win in all that time.

The Bears put their fans through a lot of disappointment on the field, verging on abject embarrassment sometimes. But we at least can (and do) continue to bask in the brutal majesty of the 1985-86 Bears. Lions fans have Barry Sanders highlights on YouTube, and that’s pretty much it.

Also, as fellow Upper Midwesterners, we ought to have each other’s backs, with the obvious exception of the Green Bay Packers, who’ve won quite enough, thank you very much.

The Lions’ success this year is sort of a football version of when the Cubs finally won it all in 2016, some 108 years after last doing so. Watching Lions fans, young and old, celebrate the two playoff victories in their own stadium reminded us a little of the multigenerational delirium that took hold when that Cubs team broke through at last.

It’s a lovely thing to see people bond over something shared, a phenomenon sports at its best promotes more often than just about anything else in this fractious age.

So have your day, Detroit! A lot of us are enjoying seeing folks in our neighboring state experience something for the first time even if they have more than a little gray in their hair.

If the Lions win it all, we will be glad for you. But that pledge is good for this season only.

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SoxFest will return next year, the Chicago White Sox announced Friday.

The fan event — last held in 2020 — will take place Jan. 24-25, 2025. Location, official on-sale dates, programming and scheduled appearances will be announced later.

SoxFest has been a gathering that provides fans the opportunity to connect with former and current players, coaches and prospects while taking a look toward the upcoming season.

In a release announcing the news, the Sox said SoxFest 2025 “returns with the same community-building spirit, featuring new and reimagined programming and experiences to immerse guests into the world of White Sox baseball.”

The most recent SoxFest — the 28th edition — occurred in late January 2020. The 2021 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022 SoxFest also was canceled, with the Sox noting at the time the challenges of projecting and managing COVID-19-related protocols in an indoor setting.

SoxFest did not take place last year “due to several factors,” the Sox said at the time. The Cubs have held their annual fan fest the last two years.

Friday’s announcement comes on the same day of a gathering for season ticket holders at the Field Museum.

The returning SoxFest will mark a pair of milestones in the franchise’s history in 2025 — the 20-year anniversary of the 2005 World Series championship team and the 125-year anniversary of the Chicago White Sox organization.

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