What’s next after the Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus

Time ran out Thursday night not only on another avoidable Bears loss, but also on Matt Eberflus’ coaching tenure in Chicago.

Eberflus was fired Friday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, hours after Eberflus held a press conference on Zoom and said he was confident he would coach the Bears against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 8.

The last straw was a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions marked by Eberflus not calling a timeout with 32 seconds left and the Bears facing a third-and-26 at the Lions’ 41. After being sacked, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to hurry. his teammates to the line. But the slow-developing play, a long pass attempt to Rome Odunze, let time run out before Cairo Santos had a shot to tie it with a 58-yard field goal attempt.

In the Bears’ locker room, there seemed to be more resignation than indignation after figuring out another way to lose. There was the tipped 52-yard Hail Mary against the Washington Commanders when cornerback Tyrique Stevenson taunted fans while receivers ran routes; the blocked field goal attempt against the Green Bay Packers; and the furious fourth quarter rally against the Minnesota Vikings only for Chicago to lose in overtime.

Thursday marked the Bears’ sixth straight loss and dropped Eberflus’ record to 14-32, including 5-19 in one-score games. That is the worst record of any coach with at least 20 games with one score in NFL history.

“We did enough as players to win this game,” Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen said Thursday.

If there has been a bright spot, it has been the play of Williams, who threw three touchdown passes Sunday to make it five over the past two weeks. Williams has thrown 232 passes without an interception, the longest streak by a rookie in NFL history.

Continuing to develop Williams will be the primary goal for the new coach.

Here are some of the key questions facing an organization that had hoped to challenge for a playoff spot instead of talking about a coaching search with a 4-8 record.

What was Eberflus’ fatal flaw?

It was a combination of several things. Developing Williams into a franchise quarterback was the priority, so hiring and firing Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator during the season didn’t help. And the fact that former O’s coordinator Luke Getsy was fired by the Bears in January and by the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 4 did not speak well of Eberflus’ ability to select coaches. In fact, he sacked eight of them during his two-plus seasons.

The Bears were also terrible in close games, and several coaching decisions stood out.

Before the Hail Mary that cost the Bears in Week 8, Washington completed a 13-yard pass to get into position for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels — who was dealing with a rib injury — to complete the pass that traveled 52.9 air yards.

After the loss, Eberflus said the penultimate play “really doesn’t matter” because “it’s always going to come down to (defense) on the last play.”

Several players disagreed – publicly.

Against Green Bay, Eberflus defended his choice not to run one last play to get Santos closer before attempting a 48-yard game-winning field goal that was blocked. Williams got the offense to the Packers’ 28-yard line, and Eberflus let the clock run from 30 seconds down to the 3 before calling a timeout and sending the kicking unit onto the field.

Because the wind wasn’t a factor in Week 11, Eberflus said he felt comfortable with Santos’ range and didn’t want to risk a fumble while trying to pick up a few more yards.

And in Detroit, Eberflus opted not to call a timeout with the Bears in position to kick a game-tying field goal or take the lead outright in the final moments of a second-half comeback. The Bears’ coach defended his play management, saying it was “handled the right way.”

And those mistakes weren’t limited to the 2024 season.

Blown leads and losing one-score games defined the Bears in 2023 after they blew double-digit leads in losses to Denver, Detroit and Cleveland. Chicago’s three losses after leading by 10-plus points in the fourth quarter were tied for the most such losses in a season in NFL history. — Courtney Cronin

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How likely is it that the next coach will be offensively minded to help Williams’ development?

It is probable.

If Williams continues to show progress under interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, it’s hard to imagine Brown not being interviewed to be Chicago’s next head coach. Continuity is important when developing a young quarterback.

If Williams is comfortable with Brown and believes he is the best choice, it will be interesting to see the impact of this endorsement.

Some of the most notable candidates expected to interview for head coaching opportunities this cycle are offensive coordinators, with the Detroit Lions’ Ben Johnson headlining the group.

A talent like Williams should attract the best offensive coaches. It could be Johnson, or the Buffalo Bills’ Joe Brady, or a handful of other young up-and-coming offensive coaches who have demonstrated an ability to build offenses with strong quarterback play, including Liam Coen with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Zac Robinson with Atlanta Falcons and Drew Petzing with the Arizona Cardinals. — Cronin

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Who should have input into the decision on the next coach and who makes the final call?

When Eberflus was hired in January 2022, the president of the Bears’ team was Ted Phillips. A year later, Kevin Warren replaced the departing Phillips as team president. Warren was the Big Ten commissioner before joining the Bears.

In the past two years, Warren has made many changes in the Bears’ front office and spearheaded the currently stalled effort to build a new stadium. He has been much more public than Phillips had been in the same role, and when Warren was hired, the Bears’ reporting structure changed. Poles began reporting to Warren instead of chairman George McCaskey, but the Bears were clear that Poles retained the final say on football decisions.

In 2022, the Bears had a five-person search committee for general manager and head coach that included McCaskey; Phillips; vice president of player engagement Lamar Campbell; senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Tanesha Wade; and Bill Polian, who spent the last 13 years of his career as the Colts’ GM before retiring in 2009.

Polian was the only non-Bears employee involved in the interview process with the candidates. In 2015, when the Bears hired Ryan Pace and John Fox, they used former general manager Ernie Accorsi to help with the process. In 2018, after Fox was fired, Pace led the interview process that led to Matt Nagy becoming head coach, and Phillips and McCaskey accompanied Pace in interviews.

The search committee will likely take the same shape as 2022, but this time with Warren instead of Phillips. Warren has had an active role in soccer-side meetings in his two years in Chicago, and he will likely be an influential voice in the decision. — Kalyn Kahler

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What is the status of GM Ryan Poles?

In January, the Poles said it was his call to keep Eberflus, citing stability as a main reason, but he said he gathered input from Warren and McCaskey to make the decision.

The unknown factor in this hiring process is Poles. Warren did not hire Poles. Polakker had final say in hiring Eberflus in 2022 and was involved in the hiring of the two failed offensive coordinators – Luke Getsy and Shane Waldron. The Bears’ search committee hired Poles in 2022 and conducted first-round interviews of all head coaching candidates, but Poles cleared second-round interviews for head coach alone.

If the Poles are retained, his opinion will factor into the head coach’s decision and the Bears can present him as the main decision maker. But there is a perception around the league that Warren is the one making the calls. When Warren worked in Minnesota as the Vikings’ COO, he didn’t have the same structure that he had in Chicago. There, Warren was responsible for all business operations, while then-general manager Rick Spielman handled all football operations.

After Eberflus was retained last year, Warren said he appreciated patience and wanted to keep citing his experience with the Rams and Dick Vermeil as proof that patience paid off. Warren didn’t pick Eberflus or Poles, and it didn’t pay to stay the course, so Warren will have to rethink what he’s looking for in a football manager. — Kahler

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Where should the Bears put their focus in the 2025 draft?

Their list has several clear needs. The first among them is in the trenches. On offense, the entire line outside of right tackle Darnell Wright could be replaced. That’s where Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. comes into play if he is available. In a weak offensive tackle class, Banks is the only player with a top-10 grade. ESPN’s Football Power Index projects the Bears will pick No. 10 overall in the draft.

Defensively, Chicago could build out its line with Michigan’s Mason Graham as a 3-technique tackle. This is also an extremely strong edge rusher class with Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Georgia’s Mykel Williams options in the Bears’ lineup. Given these picks, protecting Williams with Banks Jr. be the ideal option. — Matt Miller