What’s next after Bears fire head coach Matt Eberflus?

Time was running out on Thursday night, not only because of another avoidable Bears loss, but also because of Matt Eberflus’ coaching duties in Chicago.

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

The final straw was a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions, punctuated by Eberflus not calling a timeout with 32 seconds left and the Bears on third down on the Lions’ 41st play. and-26 were confronted. After being sacked, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams tried to hurry his teammates to the line of play. But the slow-moving play, a long pass attempt to Rome Odunze, allowed time to expire before Cairo Santos had a chance to tie the score with a 58-yard field goal attempt.

There seemed to be more resignation than outrage in the Bears’ locker room after devising another way to lose. There was the 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 rally in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings, in which Chicago lost in overtime.

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

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

If there was a bright spot, it was the play of Williams, who threw three touchdown passes on Sunday, making it five in the last two weeks. Williams has thrown 232 passes without an interception, the longest streak for a rookie in NFL history.

Williams’ further development will be the new coach’s primary goal.

Here are some of the key questions facing an organization that had hoped to compete for a playoff spot rather than talk about a coaching search with a 4-8 record.

What was Eberflus’ fatal mistake?

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

Additionally, the Bears were terrible in close games and several coaching decisions stood out.

Before the Hail Mary that cost the Bears the prize 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 , who rushed for 52.9 air yards.

After the loss, Eberflus said that the second-to-last play “doesn’t really matter” because “it always comes down to defending the last play.”

Several players disagreed – publicly.

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

With the wind not a factor in Week 11, Eberflus said he was comfortable with Santos’ range and didn’t want to risk a fumble while trying to gain a few more yards.

And in Detroit, Eberflus chose not to call a timeout because the Bears were in position to score a game-winning field goal or take the lead outright in the final moments of a second-half comeback. The Bears coach defended his management of the game, saying it was “handled correctly.”

And these mistakes weren’t just limited to the 2024 season.

Blown leads and lost one-score games characterized the Bears in 2023 after blowing double-digit leads in losses to Denver, Detroit and Cleveland. Chicago’s three losses after leading by more than 10 points in the fourth quarter represented the most such defeats in a single season in NFL history. — Courtney Cronin

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RC: Eberflus’ handling of the Bears’ loss to the Lions was a “fire-dangerous finish”

Ryan Clark explains why Matt Eberflus’ mismanagement of the clock against the Lions justifies his firing as Bears head coach.

How likely is it that the next coach will think offensively to support Williams’ development?

It’s likely.

If Williams continues to progress under interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, it’s hard to imagine Brown not being interviewed as Chicago’s next head coach. Consistency is important in the development of a young quarterback.

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

The most notable candidates expected for the head coaching job this cycle include offensive coordinators, with Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions the headliner of the group.

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

Who will have influence on the decision about the next coach and who will make the final decision?

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

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

In 2022, the Bears had a five-person general manager and head coach search committee 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 final 13 years of his career as GM of the Colts before retiring in 2009.

Polian was the only non-Bear employee involved in the candidates’ interview process. When the Bears hired Ryan Pace and John Fox in 2015, they hired former general manager Ernie Accorsi to assist in the process. In 2018, after Fox was fired, Pace led the interview process that made Matt Nagy the head coach, and Phillips and McCaskey accompanied Pace on interviews.

The search committee is expected to have the same makeup as 2022, but this time with Warren replacing Phillips. Warren played an active role in matchups between football teams during his two years in Chicago and will likely be an influential voice in the decision. — Kalyn Kahler

What is the status of GM Ryan Poles?

In January, Poles said it was his request to keep Eberflus, citing stability as the main reason, but he said he sought input from Warren and McCaskey in making the decision.

The unknown factor in this hiring process is the Poles. Warren didn’t hire Poles. The Poles had the final say in hiring Eberflus in 2022 and were involved in hiring failed offensive coordinators Luke Getsy and Shane Waldron. The Bears’ search committee hired Poland in 2022 and conducted the first-round interviews for all head coaching candidates, but Poles conducted the second-round interviews for the head coach himself.

If Poles is acquired, his opinion will factor into the head coach’s decision, and the Bears could portray it as if he were the primary decision maker. But the perception around the league is that Warren is the one making the decisions. When Warren worked in Minnesota as COO of the Vikings, he didn’t have the same structure 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 acquired last year, Warren said he valued patience and wanted to stay the course, citing his experience with the Rams and Dick Vermeil as evidence that that patience paid off. Warren didn’t choose Eberflus or Poles, and staying that course didn’t pay off, so Warren needs to rethink what he wants from a football leader. — Kahler

What should the Bears focus on in the 2025 draft?

Your squad has several clear needs. The first of these 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 in, assuming he’s 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 to go No. 10 overall in the draft.

Defensively, Chicago could expand 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 on offer from the Bears. Given these decisions, protecting Williams with Banks Jr. would be the ideal option. — Matt Miller