When the Bears fired running backs coach David Walker on Wednesday, they soured what would be, for most franchises, a hopeful day. The team was introducing Montez Sweat, whom they acquired a day earlier and hope will be their at-long-last pass rusher.
Instead, coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles were forced to explain why, for the second time in six weeks, the team was announcing an assistant coach’s departure.
Walker was fired by the Bears after being previously warned, a source said.
Defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned Sept. 21 and said he was going to “take care of my health and family,” but the Sun-Times confirmed his departure was related to conduct at Halas Hall. Eberflus took his place as defensive play-caller.
Three sources, including Eberflus, said Walker’s firing was unrelated to Williams’ resignation. Having two coaches leave during a six-week span as a result of human-resources issues is concerning nonetheless.
“As the head coach, we are building a program and have standards to uphold as a staff and organization both on and off the field,” Eberflus said. “And those standards were not met.”
Eberflus said he made the decision alongside Poles and president/CEO Kevin Warren. Poles implied the decision was a direct result of Walker’s behavior.
“We have expectations here, and this comes from me, Kevin, [chairman] George [McCaskey] and Matt,” Poles said. “If you don’t meet those expectations of how you move around this building and how you treat people, how you talk to people, how you act, you don’t belong here.
“So the alternative is you do nothing and you just kind of brush it under the rug and you’re cool with that, which we’re not.”
Eberflus claimed the Bears’ culture was awesome and outstanding, while Poles described it as strong. But Wednesday was the wrong day to make such claims.
Eberflus said there were no red flags identified in the hiring process.
“You make your phone calls,” he said. “You do your due diligence. You bring them in for an interview. You have phone conversations. You ask people that are associated.”
Poles said that “the people that [Eberflus] brings in here, he’s done the work to make sure that they’re the people they’re supposed to be.” In their first six months on the job, though, Eberflus and Poles signed three players who were soon arrested: wide receivers David Moore and Byron Pringle and linebacker Matt Adams. Eberflus and Poles had worked with Pringle and Adams at previous stops.
Poles decided against drafting Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter in April, though, after he had settled criminal charges relating to a car crash that killed two classmates. The Eagles traded for the Bears’ pick and took Carter, who has emerged as one of the league’s best rookies.
Bears wide receivers assistant Omar Young will take over Walker’s role. He was Eastern Illinois’ running backs coach and co-special-teams coordinator from 2020 to 2021.
Walker, 53, is a former standout running back at Syracuse. A college coach for most of his career, Walker was the Lions’ running backs coach from 2016 to 2018 before joining Eberflus four years later.
The Bears rank sixth in the NFL in rushing despite running backs Khalil Herbert, Roschon Johnson and D’Onta Foreman all missing at least two games apiece. The Bears led the NFL in rushing last year, which was Walker’s first season under Eberflus.
Eberflus told his staff and players about the move during a meeting Wednesday morning. The message was brief, quarterback Tyson Bagent said.
“He kinda just said that players and coaches and everyone in the building need to do their job at a certain level,” Bagent said. “And [Walker] wasn’t.”
