The Chicago Bears elected to keep the status quo going into 2024. It wasn’t a surprise. The team had improved from 3-14 to 7-10 last season, so it felt like they were headed in the right direction. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus seemed to have fostered a strong culture built around effort and intensity. One more push could get them over the hump. Now, here they are, having squandered a 4-2 start to reach 4-5 with the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL still ahead. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired. He is the eighth assistant Eberflus has dismissed. Many aren’t wondering if there will be changes in January, but how many? That depends on Kevin Warren.
As the new team president, the McCaskey family empowered him to lead the organization, including potential big decisions on the football side. Keep in mind that Warren wasn’t around when Poles and Eberflus were hired. He has no direct ties to either man, making him a wild card in what comes next. According to a source, there is a belief among people close to Warren that he intends to overhaul the football operations if things continue on their current path.
“Clean house” were the words used.
Kevin Warren has more than enough justification for this move.
Eberflus doesn’t need much explanation. Barring a major turnaround, he will complete his third consecutive losing season, during which he routinely got accused of overcoaching and squandering two talented young quarterbacks. Firing two offensive coordinators in 11 months sums it all up. Poles is a more complicated case. He deserves credit for the masterful Carolina trade that landed Williams, D.J. Moore, and other talented pieces for their rebuild. He’s constructed a solid defense as well. However, he is also saddled with some ugly misses like Larry Ogunjobi, Chase Claypool, and Nate Davis. There is also the fact he hired Eberflus and chose to keep him despite knowing the Bears would draft a quarterback this year.
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Many Bears fans wouldn’t fault Kevin Warren if he chooses to wipe the slate clean. The obvious question would be who he might bring in as replacements. At GM, he has ties with two notable names. Former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman worked with him for 13 years between 2006 and 2019. Spielman is also a former Bears director of pro personnel. The other is Martin Mayhew, former GM of the Lions and Commanders. He worked with Warren for three years in Detroit.
As for the head coach, he has connections to Kevin Stefanski, Klint Kubiak, Drew Petzing, Eric Bieniemy, and Joe Woods. The next couple of months should get interesting.
So far, TGena’s position on this thread is capturing the minds and hearts of SM readers. Even the really good and honest Dr. Melhus, with publishable quality comments in peer reviewed sites, has yet to turn the tide against his views. I could elaborate, but I do not wish to stir up conflict. It’s not in my nature to be a troublemaker.
Melhus I don’t have time to read all that, so I will just agree to disagree. I have said for well over a year now that Poles has not done a good job, nor a terrible job. My opinion has never wavered. Every GM hits on the occasional late round pick. Top GM’s not only hit on late round picks with the occasional average player, but they hit with actual star players occasionally with late round picks. Poles has yet to draft a star player in any round. All of your points are projections. In the current moment he has… Read more »
@Sam: I’m definitely not in the “King Poles” camp. I was critical of his trading away Fields, and I recognize that Claypool and Davis were disasters. Part of the reason that I often defend Poles is because of a few people here who seem to make it their life’s mission to attack Poles at every opportunity. Those people were oddly silent during the Bears 3 game win streak, and then suddenly everything bad in the next three games was Poles’s fault. I’m a scientist, and I want to find objective truth, not spin or bias. The evidence suggests to me… Read more »
@TGena. Well, when you put it that way, lol. Who was our best GM this millennium? Angelo?
Right back at ya, Sam!
Beardown54 I always appreciate your posts sir. You are typically impartial and fair. In the end we all want the same thing… to just fk’n win. I don’t “dislike” Poles. I just don’t think he has done nearly the great job that many give him credit for. He hasn’t been terrible, but he hasn’t been very good either. The product on the field is the only real undeniable proof we have. Everything else is personal opinion.