Ryan Poles Finally Called Out Matt Eberflus

One thing about Ryan Poles is that he's careful with his words. He is smart enough to know what he says matters, especially in the social media age. Maintaining that control while still providing honest answers about the Chicago Bears can't be easy. It is one of the things that makes the young GM easy to respect. That said, he is human. There is no question he has personal opinions on what went wrong with the Bears last season. Many understandably blame head coach Matt Eberflus for failing to hold himself or players accountable.

However, Poles seemed frustrated most by the plan to develop Caleb Williams. Let's remember that the GM had nothing bad to say about the former head coach after firing him last November. He merely stated that it didn't work out. After watching Ben Johnson work with the young quarterback a few months later, he is more convinced than ever that Eberflus took the wrong approach. He explained this thinking to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.

His comments were as close to open criticism as you'll ever see.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles acknowledged the philosophical changes under Johnson in a diplomatic way. Poles classified Johnson's coaching of Williams as "relentless, especially with fine-tuning the nuances of the position."

"Before it was a little bit more, 'How can we just bridge him to this first year?'" Poles said. "This [season] is like, 'We have to set your foundation, and you don't really have a choice.' It's tough love, and I think he was looking for that."...

..."It's definitely case by case and what the foundation is," Poles said. "I would say that relationship [is key], that compatibility piece between quarterback and coach, the balance between, 'All right, we're going to bend to the rookie and make him feel comfortable' versus, 'There are some hard things we have to get through and you're going to be uncomfortable but we're going to press you through that.'"

Ryan Poles' thoughts are crystal clear.

He feels Eberflus babied Williams way too much. The head coach seemed unable or unwilling to take a firmer approach with the quarterback, focusing more on trying to make him comfortable than on doing what was necessary for his development. That soft-handed approach led to Williams getting lazy on the crucial details of playing the position. That is why he often looked like a deer in headlights in games against Arizona, Seattle, and others. Johnson threw that plan out the window the moment he arrived. He told Williams from the outset that everything they'd do moving forward would be difficult and uncomfortable. Still, if the quarterback was committed to being great, he'd have to accept the challenge. Ryan Poles can already tell he made the right decision.