Matt Eberflus has already worn out his welcome with Chicago Bears fans. The past two weeks saw the team blow yet another lead in the final seconds on the Hail Mary in Washington. Then, last Sunday, they didn’t even show up in Arizona, getting blown out 29-9 against the Cardinals. Most of the blame goes to the head coach, who seems to be losing his grip on the locker room with each devastating setback. However, some people have also pointed the finger at GM Ryan Poles. Despite his assertions that this team would be competitive, many of the problems can be traced back to him.
They still don’t have a viable offensive line. His young quarterback, Caleb Williams, is on pace for 62 sacks. That alone is enough for many to justify moving on. Eberflus shouldn’t be the only one to wear this team’s poor record. Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog is known for his strong connections to the team. A recent string of posts on Twitter indicate Poles isn’t as safe as some might think, and it stems from his stubborn loyalty to the head coach.
Ryan Poles will be faced with a tough decision if things spiral.
Back in 2014, Phil Emery made the mistake of maintaining his full backing of Marc Trestman despite the wheels coming off in epic fashion during the season. Team chairman George McCaskey thus decided to fire both of them. By contrast, Ryan Pace had clearly distanced himself from John Fox in 2017. The two weren’t communicating much even before the season began. McCaskey was pitched that a coaching change could unlock quarterback Mitch Trubisky, and the team would finally ascend.
It sounds like Ryan Poles is drifting more into the Emery camp. He believes so much in Eberflus’ vision and leadership that he is unwilling to take greater notice of his faults: poor situational awareness, late-game collapses, and questionable accountability. Combine that with the worrying state of the offensive line and the inability to find a competent play-caller? Poles is far from safe.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Ryan Poles seems to simply have lacked sufficient experience overall to do the job successfully. There are a lot of things that you tolerate as as an executive in your 30’s that you know cannot be tolerated in your 40’s. You also haven’t developed the same sort of instincts at reading people. Two examples are ineffective subordinates, and failure to create and adhere to organizational standards. Poles has built a team with no self-image. They have no heart. That’s because he allows coaches like Eberflus and Chris Morgan to stay on. Every week it seems like Eberflus manages to set… Read more »
Why don’t you focus on your boy Poles matching Jerry Angelo first. Also, it’s not just that he was a first timer, but also only 13 years removed from being a player. Other guys might get their first GM job when they’re like 45 years old and have a couple of decades of front office experience under their belt.
@TWTY: Well, good news for you, then. I think Scott Fitterer is available as a GM candidate. He has experience. Want him as the Bears new GM? Or you could hire Ryan Pace back, and have him trade Caleb away for a 4th and then get Justin back from Pittsburgh for a 2nd. When it comes to GMs, if a team gets a good one, they keep him. If not, they move on. So a team can either try to find a young GM who will grow into being a good one, or take some retread who has already failed… Read more »
I have zero interest in the Chicago media’s opinion on who should be replaced or fired.
I don’t believe they are qualified and I also firmly believe they work against the sports organizations.
I have not been clicking on these articles intentionally because they are just getting ridiculous.
Don’t care about you media. You are irrelevant to me.
They hired a 36yr old first timer, learning on the job. Typical Bears.