Matt Eberflus is gone. Anybody with common sense can see that. He has one of the worst winning percentages in franchise history, is 5-18 in one-score games, and is on course for his third straight losing season. Players seem to have begun tuning him out, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Sunday against Minnesota was further evidence of this, as they once again failed to get a stop when they needed it. Eberflus getting fired is no longer a debate. The bigger question is whether Ryan Poles will join him.
The Chicago Bears GM signed off on the hire despite an opportunity to expand the coaching search if needed. Then, this past off-season, he doubled down on keeping Eberflus despite knowing he was going to draft a quarterback #1 overall. This set up the possibility of another head coach getting fired one year after drafting a QB. Now here we are again. Many believe Poles hasn’t done enough to justify keeping his job despite selecting Caleb Williams and making some other solid moves.
Even so, insider Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog made it clear what the likely outcome would be.
Ryan Poles staying put isn’t a huge surprise.
George McCaskey was the one who hired him personally. Everybody remembers the airport video. It is obvious the team owner has great respect for the Bears GM. Don’t forget Ryan Pace got a second chance to hire a head coach after three ugly years with John Fox in charge. Ryan Poles has done enough to warrant the same opportunity. He too has built a strong defense and actually has a leg up on Pace because he found actual offensive weapons and a quarterback. There is no denying he’s had missteps. Chase Claypool and Nate Davis stand among the biggest. However, one can fairly argue this team is a head coach away from competing. Poles should get the chance to finish what he started.
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@nof3ar- Spot on about late hits. Looked like late OOB and to the helmet in the first qtr, Caleb was relaxed after a pass later when he took a hard shot to the back right in front of the ref, there were others.
I honestly don’t know if a HC or other coach losing his shit Like Earl Weaver or Caleb doing same would help. But I’d gladly take the unsportsman like to find out.
@TGena—Brown has at least put the offense in position to stay in games, which is way more than the Getsy/Waldron regimes were able to do. It seems to me to be on the HC to bring the close games to the win column, and the DC as well. Sadly our HC is playing DC when the chips are down, and he is clueless about concepts like not allowing opponents to complete passes to move close enough for Hail Mary passes. He is clueless recognizing late hits on his players (or just doesn’t care enough to get in referees’ faces about… Read more »
Ryan Poles is an inept judge of NFL talent, proficiency, heart and value. This ineptitude applies to coaches as well as players. @Tred is right — the current roster is mediocre. Many of Erik Lambert’s avid readers could have assembled a better team, by simply reading the various media reports on the NFL Draft and free agency rankings. How many of us would have taken Velus Jones Jr. over Bernhard Raimann? Zacch Pickens over De’Von Achane? Or, the still-incapacitated Kiran Amegadjie over: Dominick Puni, Tanor Bortolini or Payton Wilson? C’mon guys — Ryan Poles is a clown. Imagine that his… Read more »
@Sam I hear ya loud and clear, I was born and raised in the Windy City, I live in the South now, but I bleed Navy and Blue. Of course whatever decision the wrong GM makes will be the wrong choice, same ol same ol, kinda sickening actually to go through this every single year. I’m almost certain that Hard nocks video crew took their footage of the Bears outback and burned it, it should never see the light of day. We we’re all sold a bunch of bologne about how this team was ready to compete and maybe even… Read more »
@TGena
It’s more about how fast he turned around a death spiral offense. The man has his shit together.
Might make him a bad fit at Halas Hall.