Ryan Poles has selected Matt Eberflus as the next head coach of the Chicago Bears. It was met as quite the surprise inside Halas Hall, where the hiring committee was equally split between the Jim Caldwell (Polian/George) and Dan Quinn (Ted/the rest) candidacies. This was a Poles – and Poles only – hire.
- General point: Eberflus has earned this opportunity. And now he is tasked with building the offensive staff to guide Justin Fields through his career.
- The early rumor for offensive coordinator is Eagles passing game coordinator Kevin Patulo, who will jump as the chance to coordinate a passing attack for a quarterback that can throw.
- One must believe Poles made this hire the central topic of the lengthy interview process. There are plenty of solid names to choose from – Darrell Bevell, Jim Caldwell, Mike Kafka, etc. – but it’s unlikely the choice hasn’t already been made.
- Eberflus has experience in a wide variety of defensive systems, ranging from Rob Ryan’s blitz-heavy schemes to Monte Kiffin’s Cover-2. This tidbit on his Wikipedia page is of interest: “In 2013, with Monte Kiffin replacing Rob Ryan as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2013, Eberflus was integral in assisting the team’s transition to a 4-3 scheme, alongside Rod Marinelli. Marinelli said he was impressed with Eberflus the first time he met him in 2013 in Dallas and credited Eberflus with the successful transition from Ryan’s 3-4 defense to the 4-3 (and recently called Eberflus “one of my favorites”).[7] The linebacker corps did not miss a beat, with Sean Lee logging 123 tackles (95 solo) on the season and a team-high four interceptions, all despite missing five games due to injury. Bruce Carter produced from the weakside linebacker position, tallying 122 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and three passes defensed.”
- Stephen Holder has an excellent Twitter thread, breaking down Eberflus’ time in Indy. CLICK HERE to read it.
- The NFL won’t let anyone embed their YouTube content (which couldn’t make less sense) but this is a nice video for some perspective into Eberflus’ personality.
- From Dan Pompei on Twitter: “Matt Eberflus is an unknown as a head coach, but what should give Bears fans comfort is this: he has been invested in by several people who have shown consistently shrewd judgement.”
