The Bears’ Friday coaching change came as a surprise after head coach Matt Eberflus completed his morning media availability before he was fired. The coaching staff “had a normal morning” with their usual postgame meetings after Thursday’s loss to the Lions, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. Eberflus spoke to the media, though he was clearly aware of the potential to lose his job.
Meanwhile, chairman George McCaskey, team president Kevin Warren, and general manager Ryan Poles were amidst a multi-hour meeting debating Eberflus’s firing that lasted through his press conference, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The Bears’ decision-makers came to their decision and informed Eberflus so he could tell his staff before they went home for the day.
Here is more fallout from the Bears’ coaching change:
- Warren remained in the locker room for much longer than usual after Thursday’s loss, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. He spoke with several players, many of whom criticized Eberflus’s decision not to call a timeout before the last play of the game. Whether it was gathering feedback or assuring players that the front office would work to right the ship, those conversations likely factored into Warren’s approval of the firing. However, he was not present when the front office addressed the locker room after the coaching change was announced, per Breer.
- Warren is expected to be on the search committee when the Bears interview head coach candidates after the regular season, per ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler. He’s had an “active role” in football operations since arriving in Chicago in 2023, according to Kahler. There is even “a perception around the league that Warren is the one making the calls,” indicating that Poles’ job security as general manager could be in question.
- The scene in the locker room immediately after the game was “pretty ugly”, according to Breer. Players and coaches were frustrated with the team’s inability to close out a comeback after going down 16-0 in the first half.
- Interim head coach Thomas Brown is well-regarded within the organization after starting the year as pass-game coordinator before taking over as offensive coordinator when Shane Waldron was fired earlier this month. It’s unlikely that Chicago’s first-ever midseason coaching change would install an interim that wasn’t a candidate for the full-time gig after the season is over, according to the Chicago Sun Times’ Patrick Finley. He now has five games to win over the Bears’ locker room and front office to cement his candidacy for a long-term position. If Brown inspires a turnaround, he could convince the team’s decision-makers that he’s the right man for the job before they have a chance to interview any other options.
- Brown has been “hands on” with Caleb Williams over the last three games, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs. Williams has averaged 275.7 passing yards in that stretch after averaging fewer than 200 over the team’s first nine games. The team appreciates Brown’s direct approach with Williams and wants to see if it has an impact on the whole team.
- In addition to monitoring Brown’s potential as head coach, the Bears are still evaluating the rest of the coaching staff over the remainder of the season, per veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson.
- If Brown isn’t able to earn the job, the Bears are expected to target an offensive-minded coach to further Williams’ development, per Cronin. Offensive coordinators like the Lions’ Ben Johnson, the Buccaneers’ Liam Coen, the Falcons’ Zac Robinson, and the Cardinals’ Drew Petzig could all be on Chicago’s short-list.
The best part….they have an average at best QB and they keep making excuses for him believing the narrative that he’s a “generational talent”.
Huh? Do you even watch the games?
I do, he’s average. The Bears traded Justin Fields to draft……Justin Fields. The two QB’s are equal.
They aren’t even close. Williams has way much more upside than Fields.
In less than one season Caleb has more 300 yard games than Fields has had. I hate the Bears but you have negative sports knowledge if you seriously think Fields and Caleb are even. The only thing they have in common is they both were drafted by an incredibly incompetent organization.
Believing Williams is anything but a guy is comical. There is nothing special there other than the delusion of Bears fans willing to blame anyone and everything but a guy who wasn’t an elite talent at USC.
Average at best? Sure glad you don’t evaluate players for a living.
Stop listening to media driven narratives about who they want to promote. The rest of the NFL is perfectly content the Bears organization continues to be unable to evaluate QBs. It’s even better when its fans are also duped.
He’s right. Too many mental mistakes and the physical mistakes, while not turnovers, are not rare either. His inaccuracy on intermediate and deep passes is noticeable. Sure… he moves well but that doesn’t make up for everything.
He’s a rookie quarterback dude…What do you want from the guy? I mean seriously what are we doing here?
Not expecting the sun and the moon, but he’s a flawed QB who still stands a chance to be very good. He’s not the generational talent he was billed as though. The excuses and finger pointing at everything other than him is embarrassing and eventually we’ll run out of old broken parts to blame. Just keeping it real and staying ahead of the narrative.
I never thought he was generational but he was the number 1 pick for a reason. He needs to get better for sure but you can’t judge the dude after 12 games behind this abomination of an offensive line and the brokenness of the worst coaching I’ve ever seen. It’s just a bad take at this point.
Saying he’s been underwhelming but has a chance to improve is a bad take? Maybe football isn’t for you big guy. Also two more excuses. Stop looking everywhere else and look objectively. The clock management at the end of the game was partly his fault. He took too long and audibled from a quick hitter to the deep route saying he knew if they completed the pass in bounds they wouldn’t have time to get the FG unit on. There’s a transcript of that. He forgot they had a TO. The Minnesota game he held the ball WAY too long and took a sack that crushed their chances in OT. Not to OLine’s fault. That was a known issue coming out of USC. Look at his ACTUAL numbers on passes 15+ yards down the field. As of a couple weeks ago he was DEAD LAST among ALL QBs over the last 15 years! He feasts on short pass catch and run. He has to clean it up. You critiquing him as we go along doesn’t mean you can’t root for him going forward. You/others making excuses at every turn and turning a blind eye to his shortfalls as a rookie is just cringe worthy. Be real. What I’m saying is not gut feeling or cherry picked. It’s just reality. Not the end of the world. He needs to be better in a lot of areas.
If you’re going to talk about CW… talk about CW. Not JF, not the line, not the coaches, talk about him. He’s been average to slightly above in the areas he can control. Which was the original poster’s comment.
Both Bills Coordinators are gonna get interveiws.
Bobby Babich is REALLY good. He could probably benefit from another year with Sean, but I predict he is going to be a fast riser. He will end up somewhere and that fan base will love him. Look at all the impact he has had on positions he was responsible for all pro caliber players at safety and lb. The guys respect him too.
I think the Bears want an offense guy though, and Im less optimistic about Brady in the short term. He gets the benefit of having Allen, but I think he has done a great job. I think he will get there eventually too, but I think he gets an interview.
Selfishly, I want both of them to stay. But Babich is gonna go.
Caleb Williams is a solid QB prospect. The Bears right now would stall and ruin Bo Nix. It would be a frustrating mess.
I think Poles is a decent GM, but their shot at developing Caleb is fading. They need to really hammer things down for year two.
Solid is a good word choice
Accuracy issues are the hardest thing to fix in QBs because it usually is a mechanical issue that’s been overlooked or tolerated for years. He has them. He can be good but stop falling all over yourself to protect who he is, from who we were told he could be.
Caleb Williams is better than average. I’ve seen pretty much all of the great nfl qb’s since the ’70’s. The Bears have had poor qb coaching for a LONG time. Williams is much better than Fields and if someone thinks they’re similar they’re just biased. Williams made some excellent throws in the last two weeks and should’ve won more games but his hc is not that good.
Kevin Warren is a problem. He’s in way over his head as he’s been with every job he’s had.