It’s been a few weeks since the Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus, and now that the dust is starting to settle following his departure, more and more information has started to come out regarding the decision to hire him nearly three years ago. Eberflus was hired by the Bears in January of 2022, just a couple of days after general manager Ryan Poles was brought on.
The decision to hire Eberflus was met with skepticism by many, considering how he had a lower profile than other candidates and was a defensive coach. He left his previous position as the Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator, but a new report suggests he wouldn’t have had that job for long if he hadn’t bolted for the Bears.
According to the Chicago Tribune’s Dan Wiederer, Eberflus was set to be fired by the Colts if he didn’t get the Bears job. “Multiple league sources have told the Tribune that, had the Bears not hired Eberflus, the Colts were set to fire him, and he quite possibly might have had to seek a position coach role elsewhere in the league,” Wiederer wrote in a recent column.
The Colts were a top-10 defense in categories such as points allowed and interceptions but ended the season with a dud against the Jacksonville Jaguars that prevented them from making the postseason. The defense wasn’t the sole reason to blame, but they weren’t exactly an elite unit that season.
The report also raises questions around timing since Eberflus was hired in late January, weeks after the regular season ended. It seems odd that a team would wait so long to make a change with one of their coordinators, even if they were interviewing for head coaching vacancies. Most teams move on from coaches within a week of the season coming to a close.
Still, if what Wiederer reported is true, it’s yet another knock against Poles for his decision to hire, and stick with, Eberflus for the better part of two seasons. While team president Kevin Warren indicated Poles isn’t going anywhere, there is enough smoke to wonder if that will still be the case at the end of the season. We’ll see if the general manager gets the opportunity to pick a new coach. Hopefully it will be someone who isn’t in danger of getting fired from their current role.
