Even before he met Matt Eberflus, Ryan Poles had a sense of who he’d be. That’s what’s unique about the NFL, he said: what you see in a team on tape often reflects the personality of the coordinator.
And he liked what he saw in the Colts’ defense.
“It was a fast, violent effort,” Poles said in Monday’s introductory press conference. “Very good defense. But it was more the style they played with that got my attention.”
Poles first reached out to Eberflus, the Bears’ new head coach, years ago. There was a “little bit of a relationship — but it got even deeper when we got into the interview process,” he said. Poles said that he knew Eberflus was his choice minutes after he interviewed him Wednesday.
Poles spoke Monday, six days after the Bears hired him to replace Ryan Pace. He was chosen by a five-person panel that consisted of chairman George McCaskey, president/CEO Ted Phillips, advisor BIll Polian, vice president of player engagement LaMar “Soup” Campbell and senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Tanesha Wade.
Poles said he was given the latitude to expand the Bears’ search beyond the three finalists selected by the five-person committee. But he knew who he wanted.
“I chose him,” he said, looking to Eberflus.
