Almost everybody agrees that Matt Eberflus will be fired as Chicago Bears head coach at the end of this season. He is teetering on the edge of having the worst winning percentage in franchise history. He’s now lost six games in which the Bears had a win probability above 80%. He’s lost four of five games in which his team had a chance to win on the game’s final play. Eight assistant coaches have resigned or been fired under his watch. Players have dropped strong hints that he has lost the locker room. Amidst a four-game losing streak after starting 4-2, the conversation has shifted from his fate to that of the man who hired him, Ryan Poles.
Many believe the general manager should be a package deal with Eberflus. He has a direct hand in this mess, too. Big misfires like Chase Claypool and Nate Davis have hampered their progress on offense. His inability to improve the offensive line to anything resembling respectability is also a major red flag. The calls for his job are growing louder with each passing week. Would the Bears consider a clean sweep at the top? Unlikely. According to Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog, the belief is Poles will be retained and have a chance to hire another coach.
“Poles will likely retain this job moving forward, getting the opportunity to hire a second head coach…Poles must immediately get two things right: (1) he has to find the right head coach to pair with his young quarterback and (2) he has to completely rebuild the offensive line as a unit. Not one player on that line currently should have a guaranteed job in 2025.”
Ryan Poles has done enough to justify another shot.
Yes, he hired Eberflus. That is a big red mark on his job report. The Claypool and Davis moves were also bad. That said, the GM has justification for saying he’s built a pretty good roster, all things considered. D.J. Moore, Montez Sweat, and T.J. Edwards are established studs. Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker, Gervon Dexter, Darnell Wright, Tyrique Stevenson, and Rome Odunze look like keepers from their recent drafts. Then there is Caleb Williams. It feels like the Bears finally have a legitimate quarterback for the first time in ages.
Like it or not, the organization wouldn’t have him without the efforts of Ryan Poles. Ownership allowed Ryan Pace to continue building around Mitch Trubisky after John Fox was fired. It almost worked. The team surged in 2018 with the former QB having a Pro Bowl year. Sadly, it fizzled after that. Poles is in a much better position compared to six years ago. Not only does he have a capable roster, but also three picks in the first two rounds of the draft and over $70 million in cap space. This team is ready for a run if he can find the right coach and retool the trenches. At least, that will be Poles’ pitch once the season ends in January.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
That’s strange. The rumor that has been going around is that Warren intends to clean house. If they let Poles hire another HC, that basically means they’re extending him, despite the lack of progress winning, hiring good coaches, or building the lines.
This should be interesting.
Barry is correct. If you can’t see that, visit the optometrist.
The entire city of Chicago should form a class to sue Ryan Poles for his disaster of an off-season. CHI could’ve had Justin Fields and Derrick Henry in the backfield, three young dogs roughing people up on the interior of the OL, Brock Bowers running seam routes behind defensive fronts that need to be crowded to contain a dominant run game, and an ATM that spits out draft capital for the next three years from trading out of pick 1.01. Instead, CHI has … whatever the fuck you call the dog-shit product that we witness every weekend. Of course he… Read more »
Poles is just plain horrible. He should be shown the door before Eberflus. Claypool, Nate Davis and Velus Jones were a good start in his list of resume highlights and now we can add the decision to bring back Eberflus as the shining star. The guy has pretty much done nothing but screw up since he’s been here. The only thing that makes him look a bit successful is that Panthers drafted Young and not Stroud, something completely out of his control. Had they drafted Stroud, we’d been in the same mess we are in now but with out Caleb… Read more »
No way Poles is gone over 2 bad moves. At least he took a risk. Can’t say the same for Eberflus. He’s so afraid of what might happen he chooses to do nothing. How did the Packers know something about the Bears FG unit that the Bears didn’t know? It’s an indictment of coaching. Would Flus ever go for 2 to win when he could kick and XP to tie a game and force OT? Ever?