The Chicago Bears have traveled a long, winding road to reach this point. For the first time in what feels like ages, they seem to have credibility at the two most important jobs on a football team. Former #1 overall pick Caleb Williams occupies the quarterback spot, and highly-touted offensive mind Ben Johnson is the new head coach. Credit for this outcome goes primarily to GM Ryan Poles, with minor assists from Kevin Warren and George McCaskey. He was the one who engineered the trade that led to Williams, and he was the one who decided Johnson was the primary target in the coaching search.
The excitement for what is to come among Bears fans is genuine. Still, that doesn’t completely absolve Poles of his sins. He must be held accountable for his past mistakes, none more so than the hiring of former head coach Matt Eberflus, arguably the worst the franchise has ever had. Some have argued for over a year that Poles isn’t responsible for that. The decision was all but made by the time he was hired since Eberflus came on board just 48 hours later. However, McCaskey told Adam Jahns of The Athletic that nothing was ever forced on Poles.
Three days later, Matt Eberflus was hired as the Bears’ head coach. He was one of three finalists that McCaskey, former president Ted Phillips and then-adviser Bill Polian had after running coinciding searches. Poles had the option to reopen the search but declined. They were introduced together at Halas Hall.
George McCaskey confirms the cold reality.
Like it or not, much of the decision to hire Eberflus falls at Poles’ feet. He was told the three candidates the search committee liked. From there, he had the freedom to pick one of them or, if none stood out, expand the search to include more names. The GM took just two days of interview before making the decision. Everything about it felt rushed, which is unusual. Poles had a reputation for being thorough with his approach. Details mattered. Being so abrupt with such an important decision was odd.
Some have theorized that the GM, perhaps subconsciously, wanted Eberflus because he knew the coach wouldn’t resist any personnel decisions. Eberflus was on the cusp of being fired in Indianapolis before the Bears came calling. There was no way he’d jeopardize a head coaching job by raising a stink over Poles’ roster decisions.
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That is speculation, though. George McCaskey made it pretty clear the organization never handcuffed their GM by insisting on Eberflus. It was merely a poorly thought-out decision. Based on how obsessively detailed the search was this time around, it’s safe to say Poles learned his lesson.
