The Bears’ Matt Eberflus spent Monday asking questions of his players in 10-minute exit interviews at Halas Hall that lasted from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The questions yet to be asked of him by his bosses — chairman George McCaskey, president and CEO Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles, who have vowed a thorough evaluation of the program — will be far more compelling.
Previous Bears coaches Marc Trestman, John Fox and Matt Nagy were all fired around breakfast. Eberflus, sitting next to Poles during Monday’s player interviews, was not. But neither Poles nor Warren — a new variable and the lead decision-maker since replacing Ted Phillips in April — has issued a full-throated endorsement of Eberflus.
Their questioning of the coach, who says he looks forward to meeting with his bosses, should begin with the hottest topic in Chicago. Quarterback Justin Fields’ uneven season finale against the Packers on Sunday was a sobering reminder that the Bears are more likely to draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick than to keep Fields in 2024. And if so, why would Eberflus, a defensive coach by trade, be qualified to oversee the development of either USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye?
The Bears don’t have to look far into their history to question the wisdom of pairing a rookie quarterback with a coach in a must-win season. They drafted Mitch Trubisky in 2017 before Fox’s final season and Fields in 2021 before Nagy’s final season. Both coaches began the year with a veteran (and not a first-round pick) as the starter before switching. They combined to go 11-22 in those seasons, outscored by a combined 152 points.
Eberflus needs to explain to his bosses how he’ll avoid those pitfalls. And then he needs to present a plan to fix the Bears’ passing game, with or (more likely) without Fields.
Would Eberflus retain Luke Getsy? In two seasons as offensive coordinator, Getsy has produced the fewest passing yards in the NFL.
If it’s not Getsy, would the Bears overhaul their offensive system, changing from the style Eberflus chose two years ago because he found it the most difficult to defend against? Whom would he want to hire? Would it be attractive to candidates to know Eberflus would be on the hot seat in 2024? Would those who interview be asked how they’d fix Fields, or which college player they’d prefer?
Would Eberflus keep calling defensive plays? Would he hire a defensive coordinator? If the best argument for keeping him is consistency, isn’t that negated if he hires new coordinators on both sides of the ball?
And what about Eberflus’ H.I.T.S. system — hustle, intensity, takeaways and smarts? Does a team that finished with the 12th-most penalty yards get credit for “smarts”?
Eberflus needs to explain all of the above.
His players already seem to have bought in. Defensive end Montez Sweat, the team’s highest-paid player, said he’d “love to see ’Flus back,” calling him smart, innovative and a good listener. Linebacker Jack Sanborn said Eberflus was strong when the Bears were their weakest.
“I think he maybe saw it before any of us saw it, and really just didn’t change throughout the rough times or the good times,” Sanborn said. “Because it was ugly at times. It was bad. We were playing bad ball. We weren’t executing. We weren’t playing good.
“And then it kind of changed. I think the guys in this locker room could feel that.”
