Eberflus Running Out of Chances, Poles Also Feeling Heat
Back in 2021, the Bears rode a five-game losing streak into a Thanksgiving Day tilt with the Lions when an article posted on Patch.com claimed the Bears would fire Matt Nagy after the game no matter the outcome. Chicago beat Detroit 16-14 that day and Nagy kept his job until the end of the season. Nagy and GM Ryan Pace were replaced by Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles after the Bears finished 5-11.
Today, Eberflus is swimming in the same cold waters that Nagy was three years ago. No one should expect the Bears to fire him before the end of the season, but it might be too late to save his job unless Chicago wins out. Poles might be on the hot seat, too, but that seems unlikely. The GM is being blamed for hiring Eberflus and for not firing him after last season. That may be a little off the mark, however.
George McCaskey, Kevin Warren, and Poles met at the end of last season to discuss the head coach’s future. Warren wanted continuity, so Eberflus was retained. It’s also doubtful McCaskey wanted to buy out the three remaining years of Eberflus’ contract, so it’s safe to assume Poles is the one who wanted a change, and he was denied. Poles bore the accountability for that decision because that’s what general managers do. Nobody should solely blame the GM for retaining Eberflus.
After extensive meetings Monday and Tuesday, the Bears are not making a head coaching change and Matt Eberflus offically is expected to return for the 2024 season, per league sources. pic.twitter.com/eWwag6e0N6
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 10, 2024
“This is reminiscent of the process that we went through in St. Louis,” Warren said in January. “It’s reminiscent of the process we went through in Minnesota. There were many times that we were in meetings and we would say, ‘We’re not making enough progress too quickly,’ and we would have to take a step back and say: ‘But are we on the right track, and are we focused on the right things?’ And as I sit here today, unequivocally, I believe that we have the right set of individuals.
“It just seems like that third year is a critical year for having things start to meld. I’m extremely confident because I’ve lived this before. I understand how it galvanizes an organization, a football team, a city, and a fanbase when you’re able to go through very difficult times and be deliberate, be fair, make good decisions, be forward-thinking, have innovation, and bring in the right people who can help you be a champion not only in the community and on the field but also in this business.”
It’s also important to remember that Poles was given a list of pre-approved head coaches before he accepted the Bears job. That list included Eberflus, Jim Caldwell, and Dan Quinn, three of the 13 candidates that survived McCaskey’s five-member steering committee which included Ted Phillips and Bill Polian. It was Polian, with blessings from Phillips, who advised McCaskey to hire Poles and Eberflus.
“The two guys we got we felt like were the best fit for the Bears,” Polian said at the time. “Ryan because of his wide-ranging experience with three different regimes in Kansas City and three different ways of looking at personnel acquisition and management.
“And ‘Flus’ because of his wide-ranging experience with defenses around the league, and as I said to George at the time that Ryan had decided to hire ‘Flus, ‘it’s back to the future;’ it’s the same defense that took the Bears to the Super Bowl against us in Indianapolis in ’06, so there’s a history of success there.”
Poles did interview the three finalists one-on-one. That’s when he picked Eberflus. But hold on for just a minute. Caldwell and Quinn had previous head coaching experience, Eberflus did not. You can probably guess which one likely commanded the smallest salary. Poles was hired on January 25, 2022, and Eberflus landed the gig the next day. The Bears passed on Kwesi Adofo-Mensah for GM and did not interview Kevin O’Connell. Those two are running the show in Minnesota, who beat the Bears 30-27 on Sunday. The Bears also passed on Brian Flores as a potential head coach. He serves as the Vikings defensive coordinator.
To be fair, Eberflus improved from three to seven wins last season, and the Bears won four of their final six contests. Most coaches will keep their jobs with that kind of improvement. Chicago won four of its first six games this season before the wheels fell completely off against Washington. That said, Eberflus seems to consistently invent new ways to lose. Poles almost always has the same demeanor when that happens. It wouldn’t be much different if the Bears were winning those games.
Eberflus may have hit rock bottom on Monday morning when he tried to defend his unfathomable challenge flag on the first play of Sunday’s second half. Sam Darnold and Jordan Addison burned Chicago’s secondary for a 69-yard gain. The replays clearly showed Addison remained inbounds. Eberflus challenged it anyway.
Jordan Addison bounces off a defender for a 69-yard gain!
📺: #MINvsCHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/OVIYAQc3Rk— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024
“It always warrants a challenge when you have that big of a gain,” Eberflus said. “Even if we don’t have the best look that we would have.”
The embattled head coach lost a challenge and a critical timeout in a one-score game. The Bears didn’t lose because of the bumble-headed decision, but it lessened the team’s chances of winning. That kind of stuff has happened far too often under Eberflus. Botching critical decisions that ultimately alter a game’s outcome seems embedded in his DNA.
The Bears will now go to Detroit on three days rest to play the Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Could Eberflus lose his job if poor decision-making costs Chicago another win? That would only make sense if Poles intends to give the job to OC Thomas Brown on an interim basis. Bears fans must therefore endure five additional weeks of what is quickly becoming the worst of Eberflus’ tenure.
Poles should be safe, however. He should be allowed to conduct his head coaching search without ownership interference and be subsequently judged on the merits of Eberflus’ successor. McCaskey needs to keep Polian and Phillips out of the equation. Warren should oversee the search and assist Poles as required.
Poles does not deserve a free pass though. If you remove the big trade with the Panthers, his results become slightly better than mediocre. The Bears are 2-12 against their NFC Noth opponents since Poles staked a claim to winning the division and never giving it back. It would be unfair, however, to tie him to the fate of his current head coach.
Few organizations would interview head coaches without a GM in place the way the Bears did three years ago. Then again, McCaskey doesn’t know anything about football, and more frighteningly, can’t seem to withdraw when his input isn’t required. That’s why the organization has been in dire straits for the better part of three-plus decades. Repeating that process this January will keep the Bears mediocre for at least another decade.
