Matt Eberflus hasn’t been fired yet. Many believe it’s inevitable at this point. Despite beating the Vikings on Monday night, nothing about that victory says the Chicago Bears head coach has figured things out. It took a last-second field goal to beat a team without its starting quarterback and best offensive player. Despite another stellar first three quarters, his defense gave up the lead in the 4th quarter again. The status quo hasn’t changed. Until he puts together an actual win streak or beats a good team, his job cannot and should not be considered safe.
The obvious question is if the Bears were to dismiss him after the season, do they have a replacement in mind? Speculation often brings up guys like Jim Harbaugh, Ben Johnson, Kellen Moore, and Eric Bieniemy. However, a source contacted SM indicating those aren’t the names to watch. The one to keep an eye on is Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.
Not only is he running the #3 scoring offense in the league, but he’s helped them jump out to a 10-1 record. That isn’t the only reason the Bears have interest. The source said it’s because of his relationship with assistant GM Ian Cunningham. The two worked together in Philadelphia and undoubtedly crossed paths while Johnson was an assistant in college and Cunningham was a scout.
Shifting from Matt Eberflus to Johnson would make sense.
His biggest calling card is a knack for elevating quarterbacks. He played the position at a high level at Utah. After failing to crack the pros, he switched to coaching in 2010. After four years learning under Utah legend Kyle Whittingham, he went to Mississippi State, where he directly oversaw the development of a young man named Dak Prescott. After a brief stint at Houston, he went to Florida, where he helped Kyle Trask throw the sixth-most TDs and post the second-best passer rating in program history.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Philadelphia came calling in 2021, making him their quarterbacks coach. He took over the development of Jalen Hurts and has since transformed him into an MVP contender. The man’s track record speaks for itself, and he’s still only 36 years old. If the Chicago Bears ever wanted somebody to rescue Justin Fields or oversee the development of Caleb Williams or Drake Maye, they could do a lot worse. It isn’t hard to see why they might be interested if Matt Eberflus is gone.
Harbaugh was drafted by the Bears and they already have an idea of the man whether they hire Harbaugh or not will depend on what McCaskey thinks from his first impressions
@FootballAtArlington1. No. Not every NFL player. I don’t think that of Claypool, Johnny Football or Carson Wentz. But if someone can’t tell the difference between people WANT to know, learn and get better, people who do or don’t have the athletic gifts (difference between Bagent and Fields), people who don’t self-examine their weaknesses and change, those people should not be in any management position. In any job anywhere. There are multiple things Fields doesn’t do correctly, or right at the time, but it’s obvious he changes and tries to improve. When you hear criticism of Getsy ‘s calling for short… Read more »
Ok coach. 😀
It’s never Fields fault. As a matter of fact, every NFL player that doesn’t astound the world with brilliant play only fails because of their coaches. 😀
I would love to see Brian Johnson work with Fields. I see Fields closest to Hurts in terms of potential and the Eagles as the model of “tough football team” and ability to win in multiple ways. For all the people who whine about Fields stats, Hurts actually is consistently similar – except he has a consistent offense to run dependent on who their opponents are. BUT, Johnson and Hurts have a Nick Sirianni behind them, to give them room to develop as they see fit. Not only are the Eagles doing well this year, but Jalen Hurts development last… Read more »
Just want to put it out there that 2 of the better suggestions for head coach candidates should Eberflus be fired are Bieniemy and Harbaugh. That said they are both very unlikely. I’m 99% sure that Bieniemy won’t make it because Rivera will be fired and he’ll step right in. And Harbaugh has the roadblocks of “supposed” issues with Kevin Warren, the NFL’s cowtowing to the NCAA sanctions, the belief that he will want roster control and the one nobody talks about… the distain I believe the Quiche eaters that own the Bears have for their former players. How else… Read more »