The common assessment around the Chicago Bears was that something would break around the middle of this week. GM Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren wanted to conduct exit interviews, meet with everybody, and then decide where to go next. The first one involved the fate of head coach Matt Eberflus. While his 2023 season was improved at 7-10 from his 3-14 record last year, some believe it wasn't enough to overshadow some red flags. People are worried about his conservative nature, questionable in-game management, and a bad tendency to give away games in the 4th quarter.
At the same time, he turned around the defense after it bottomed out in September and kept the team together through some ugly stretches. It seems that might've been enough to convince the brass he deserves another year. Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron and Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog both have solid connections to the team. It was noteworthy that both posted interesting tweets almost at the same time. They carried the same clear message.
Eberflus is returning, likely with changes to his staff.
The sales pitch by Eberflus to the Chicago Bears was likely straightforward.
He has the defense figured out. Get him one or two more pieces and they're set. All he has to do is elevate the offensive side, and this team is poised for a playoff run. That likely means a new offensive coordinator and maybe a new quarterback. Fans won't like this. To them, it's just another half-measure. They've seen this play out multiple times already. Bring in a coach to try fixing the current quarterback. It doesn't work. Draft a new quarterback; he struggles as a rookie, so you fire the head coach. Hire a new guy to fix the QB.
Rinse and repeat.
The Chicago Bears did it with John Fox and Matt Nagy. Now, they're likely doing it with Eberflus. Keeping Fields is an interesting wrinkle. The idea there is they hope a new coordinator can better utilize his skills while Poles trades the #1 pick to stockpile more assets. If the team doesn't break through in 2024, then the entire thing can be reset in 2025. The only thing to do at this point is await word from the organization. One can imagine the inevitable press conference won't be a comfortable affair.
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