Bears coach Matt Eberflus sat in the lobby of Halas Hall on Friday and, other than being eager to get to practice, seemed very comfortable heading into the final game of the season. As he set his play sheet on the table and leaned back in his chair, he conveyed no stress about whether he’s about to lose his job.
Eberflus has declined to say whether he has clarity on his future, but the Bears have momentum going into their season finale at the Packers on Sunday and so does he. Everything points toward him coming back for a third season.
His tone lately has signaled that as well, and he talked at length Friday about improvements he and general manager Ryan Poles can make going forward.
He saw the Bears trending positively ahead of an offseason when they’ll have the No. 1 draft pick and ample salary-cap space. He also took direct accountability for errors and failures, which included defensive coordinator Alan Williams and running backs coach David Walker exiting for non-football reasons, a disconnect between quarterback Justin Fields and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and mishandling news conferences.
“Whether it’s working with a player or working with a decision — a decision that wasn’t as good as we thought it was gonna be — or whatever that is, you have to recognize that,” Eberflus told the Sun-Times when asked about making errors. “Then move forward from that and say, ‘How can I do that better next time?’ That’s a learning process.
“That’s where Ryan and I are really in tune and in step with each other. We’re able to recognize and say, ‘Hey, we can do this better... What’s the plan next time?’ We always have a plan, but if it doesn’t work out, we’re gonna make it better next time we see that scenario.”
Whether Eberflus gets a “next time” will be determined soon. When asked Friday if he deserved to be back, he said yes and pointed to the improvement in the second half and called the Bears a team “on the rise.” He said he will “welcome” meetings with Poles and team president Kevin Warren and would “feel good” about defending his work.
Warren declined to address Eberflus’ future Friday other than saying he will “take a big-picture, methodical look at everything” and he is “very pleased with the energy of our team.”
Poles hasn’t talked publicly since Nov. 1, when he was supportive even as the team sat 2-6 and fresh off firing Walker, and the situation was far bleaker then than currently.
The biggest question now is if the Bears keep Eberflus, how will he make sure next season is better?
His team looked unprepared and lost its first four games, it endured three epic late-game collapses and the offense still isn’t fixed.
Eberflus would be integral in deciding whether Fields and Getsy stay. He’d also have to hire a defensive coordinator, then decide whether to keep calling the defense even though that runs counter to his belief in being a CEO-style coach. He has done well calling plays and said “that’s certainly an option” next season.
Of all the debacles this season, though, none were as alarming as Williams and Walker leaving — especially Williams, who was on Eberflus’ staff four seasons with the Colts before he hired him as Bears defensive coordinator.
“Things are going to get dropped into your workplace sometimes and they’re unforeseen,” Eberflus said. “It was really good how we handled it internally. Now, the outside part of it, it doesn’t look great. I recognize that. I accept responsibility. And we moved forward and we made it the best we could and we’re gonna continue to do that.”
Was it preventable? And, more importantly, can it be prevented in the future?
“We did our due diligence in terms of calling people and vetting the candidates,” he said. “We’ve gotta continue to do that and just improve and do it better.”
Neither Eberflus nor the Bears came out looking better as he discussed those situations in news conferences. That has been a recurring concern.
Eberflus couldn’t deliver certainty on wide receiver Chase Claypool’s banishment and allowed the story to drag on until the Bears traded him. He spun himself in a circle, too, trying to explain why Fields was “doubtful” on the injury report for the Panthers game, but obviously wasn’t going to play.
He seemed unready for a key part of the job: being the public face and voice of the franchise.
“There were some hard scenarios that were unforeseen, and it’s the first time going through those questions,” he said. “You don’t get those questions on a normal day... The outside perceptions are gonna be what they are, but we stayed positive and worked through it.
“Whether you’re evaluating your press conference or evaluating your call on third-and-six, you’re always gonna say, ‘How can I improve the next time?’ We’ve done that through the course of the year and we’re gonna continue to do it. It’s important to grow — me as the head coach, Ryan as a GM and us a football team — to get where we want to go to.”
It has been a grueling crawl so far. Poles demolished the roster, and Eberflus went 3-14 in his first season, saying he knew the Bears were taking “a long game” approach to the rebuild.
Then, with an infusion of talent this season, the Bears sputtered to a heap of embarrassing losses. There has been progress, true, but there’s also still a lot to do. And with more talent likely coming in, the stakes will be even higher next season.
