Before this season, the Chicago Bears had never fired a coach in a season, a fact they were proud of.
They also haven’t experienced some late-game coaching fiascos this season, especially on Thanksgiving with everyone watching.
Eberflus will take the final deadline in his next job since the loss to the Detroit Lions. A final-minute loss, in which the Bears let about 25 seconds run off the clock instead of calling a timeout in a 23-20 loss to the Lions, was the end of the Bears’ patience. Eberfluss met with the media Friday morning and was fired shortly afterward. It is the first time the Bears have fired a head coach in a season.
“After meeting this morning [chairman] George [H. McCaskey] And [President and CEO] Kevin [Warren]We have informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the leadership and head coaching positions of our football team,” Bears general manager Ryan Pauls said in a statement. “I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication. to our organization. We express our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
“I support Ryan and the decision made this morning. We understand how essential the head coach’s role is to building and maintaining a championship-caliber team, leading our players and our organization,” Warren said. “Our fans have stood by us and persevered through every challenge, and they deserve better results. Our organizational and operational structure is strong, focused, connected and energized for the future.”
Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will take over for the rest of the season.
The Bears had some losses that were punctuated by strange coaching decisions, including a loss to the Lions and a Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders. Caleb Williams, the first overall pick, struggled for most of his rookie season before offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired and the Bears quickly fell out of playoff contention. Brown was the passing game coordinator before Waldron was fired.
The Bears would go on, and their fans’ final memory of Eberflus would be how his team blew another game in the final seconds.
Matt Eberflus had a rough tenure with the Bears
Eberflus’ first season ended with a 3-14 record, but Eberflus kept his job. The next season started just as poorly with a 2-7 record. But Eberflus won five of their last eight games, saving his job. It was a fun stretch but ultimately a detriment, as it meant Eberflus kept his job for another season.
The 2024 season has not started badly. They were 4-2 at the bye, helped by some weaker opponents. It gets ugly after the goodbye. Williams began to retreat. In the Bears’ loss to the Washington Commanders on a Hail Mary, which came after Washington gave up enough yards to make a long throw, Eberflus said it “really didn’t matter.” A few weeks later the Bears were in position to beat the Green Bay Packers but settled for a 46-yard field goal attempt that was blocked. The Packers said they knew kicker Cairo Santos’ kick speed was low, giving them a shot at blocking the last attempt. Eberflus stood by that decision to try and not close. An overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings looked like the Bears might be getting a little better, but an embarrassing loss to the Lions erased that thought.
On Thanksgiving, the Bears battled back from a 16-0 halftime deficit and trailed 23-20 in the final minutes. A sack about 30 seconds later sets the Bears back and then chaos ensues. Williams looked like a confused rookie trying to align the team. The snap didn’t come until six seconds remained. Williams throws deep and incomplete, as the clock expires. The Bears had a timeout left but didn’t use it.
You won’t see many NFL teams blow out as badly at the end of a game.
Who will coach the Bears?
Bears are not in bad shape. The bar for success is low. Chicago has missed the playoffs in 12 of the last 14 seasons. They have not won a playoff game since the end of the 2010 season. But the roster is pretty good, and Williams has shown enough that a good coaching candidate can see the upside in working with him.
After the Bears made the wrong decision to go with a defensive-minded coach in Eberflus while the rest of the league was hiring offensive minds, it seems like a good bet that the Bears’ next coach will have an offensive background.
There’s reason to believe the Bears have brighter days ahead, which would be nice for a franchise that hasn’t won a Super Bowl in nearly four decades. Eberflus wasn’t the right fit, and it took the Bears an extra year to admit it.
In a spotlight game on Thanksgiving, Eberflus’ time ran out.
