There Is Actual Incentive For Bears To Fire Matt Eberflus Early

The Chicago Bears have hired and fired six different head coaches since 1993. It looks like Matt Eberflus will be the seventh. One thing all of those previous names have in common is none of them were dismissed before the end of the season. The McCaskey family has never fired a coach midseason. Most fans struggle to believe that will change with Eberflus. However, there are reasons to think he could be the first. He’s 3-18 as a coach, having lost 14 in a row after Sunday’s collapse against Denver. His defense is still terrible, while the locker room is growing restless and frustrated.

The common argument is there’s no point in firing a head coach early. That is not true. I was curious about the subject and did some digging. Since 2010, there have been 19 instances where a franchise fired their head coach during the season and ended up hiring somebody from the outside.

Here are the results.

• 2010 49ers – Fired Mike Singletary – Hired Jim Harbaugh
• 2010 Broncos – Fired Josh McDaniels – Hired John Fox
• 2011 Dolphins – Fired Tony Sparano – Hired Joe Philbin
• 2011 Jaguars – Fired Jack Del Rio – Hired Mike Mularkey
• 2014 Texans – Fired Gary Kubiak – Hired Bill O’Brien
• 2014 Raiders – Fired Dennis Allen – Hired Jack Del Rio
• 2015 Dolphins – Fired Joe Philbin – Hired Adam Gase
• 2015 Eagles – Fired Chip Kelly – Hired Doug Pederson
• 2016 Rams – Fired Jeff Fisher – Hired Sean McVay
• 2016 Bills – Fired Rex Ryan – Hired Sean McDermott
• 2017 Giants – Fired Ben McAdoo – Hired Pat Shurmur
• 2018 Packers – Fired Mike McCarthy – Hired Matt Lafleur
• 2019 Redskins – Fired Jay Gruden – Hired Ron Rivera
• 2019 Panthers – Fired Ron Rivera – Hired Matt Rhule
• 2020 Texans – Fired Bill O’Brien – Hired David Culley
• 2020 Lions – Fired Matt Patricia – Hired Dan Campbell
• 2020 Falcons – Fired Dan Quinn – Hired Arthur Smith
• 2021 Jaguars – Fired Urban Meyer – Hired Doug Pederson
• 2021 Raiders – Fired Jon Gruden – Hired Josh McDaniels

Of those 19 instances, there were 10 where the franchise significantly upgraded from the previous coach. Harbaugh led the 49ers to three conference championships and a Super Bowl. Fox got Denver to the Super Bowl in 2013. Del Rio finally got the Raiders to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Pederson won a Super Bowl for Philadelphia. McVay won a Super Bowl for the Rams. McDermott has transformed Buffalo into an AFC contender. Lafleur guided Green Bay to two NFC championship games. Rivera has never had fewer than seven wins in Washington despite ongoing quarterback problems. Campbell has Detroit playing like a contender. Pederson led Jacksonville to the playoffs last season.

Firing Matt Eberflus gives Bears something important: a head start.

With him out of the picture, it allows team president Kevin Warren, ownership, and maybe GM Ryan Poles to conduct significant research on the coaching market. Having over two extra months of prep time can prove invaluable, especially for an organization struggling to identify quality coaches. They can compile data, reach out to various connections, feel out the market, and get a sense of who would be best for their franchise. Keep this in mind. It took a full month in 1982 before the Bears hired Mike Ditka. Lovie Smith took almost three weeks.

There is nothing wrong with taking time to weigh the decision. Next to finding a quarterback, finding the right head coach is the most crucial decision a franchise can make. Matt Eberflus never felt like a solid evaluation. He was guided to Chicago by former GM Bill Polian, who hasn’t worked in the league for over a decade. Poles only met him once before deciding he was the guy. That kind of muddy process can’t happen again. Cutting bait now and using the extra time to get it right makes sense.