The Chicago Bears are in the middle of a disappointing season as they are 2-7 in the second year of Matt Eberflus’ tenure as the team’s head coach and the focus for their game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday is on positioning for the 2024 NFL Draft rather than positioning for a post-season spot.
There has been a belief that Eberflus is coaching on borrowed time and the Bears will move on from the former Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator at the end of the season. That sentiment has intensified throughout the past month as Eberflus has had two assistants removed from his coaching staff due to HR-related incidents.
That is the reason why the prediction made by Adam Jahns of The Athletic (Subscription required) is so outlandish. In his second prediction for the remainder of the Bears’ 2023 season, he makes a case that Eberflus will be retained.
The argument is centered around the idea that Poles met with reporters last week and mentioned that the team was not folding under Eberflus’ leadership and that the first season can’t be held against the head coach because of the roster teardown that took place.
One local Chicago Bears beat writer predicts that Matt Eberflus will return for a third season as the team’s head coach.
To the first argument, that the Bears players have yet to fold under Eberflus, it’s worth noting that the Bears are just now at the halfway point of their season. Any team rarely folds under their coach within the first two months of the season unless you have the rare exception such as Urban Meyer with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021. It is a defense of a head coach that does not hold weight two months into a season.
There is some truth to the idea that Eberflus’ first season with the Bears should not be held against him. Eberflus was a bright spot for the Bears’ 2022 season as there seemed to be a positive direction with the culture that he is building.
But, it is that very statement that brings us to the reason why Eberflus needs to be failed. Not only have the Bears been an embarrassment on the field this season, they have been an embarrassment off the field. Without even needing to mention the assistant coaches who were fired because of HR issues, the Bears had multiple players including starting quarterback Justin Fields question whether or not the coaching staff was putting the players in the best position to succeed. The Bears’ culture has been demolished in Eberflus’ second season and that is the reason he needs to be fired at the end of the season.
