The Chicago Bears may make a change at the top of their coaching staff during the offseason, but Matt Eberflus isn’t thinking about it right now.
On Monday, December 4, Chicago’s head coach met with members of the media at Halas Hall. A reporter asked Eberflus if he felt “safe” in his job, given reports that his second season as head coach could be his last with the Bears.
“You can only concentrate on leadership,” Eberflus said. “The first rule of leadership is that you must lead yourself.” Come to work every day and put together the plans — offense, defense, and special teams. Captain the football team. Assist the football team’s leadership council in leading the team, because true leadership comes from within. And I believe that is what you are concentrating on. Every day, put your best foot forward.”
Matt Eberflus, the Bears’ head coach, will be retained until the end of the season.
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported on Saturday that Eberflus’ job is safe for the rest of the season.
“The Chicago Bears have no plans to make any in-season moves regarding their coaching staff,” he wrote. “A league source told me this current staff is expected to finish out the regular season, and then decisions will be made.”
According to Russini, the organization’s decisions will not be limited to Eberflus’ future, but also to the futures of quarterback Justin Fields and general manager Ryan Poles.
According to a league source, [CEO/President Kevin] Warren has been given authority over Poles and the Bears front office. He’s earned it, too, with over two decades of NFL experience. Warren has a strong hand in football operations and will play a significant role in potential quarterback firings, hirings, and decisions.
He will not make any snap decisions or choose a path based on optics. He has been described as methodical. Unemotional. A strategist. A long-term strategy is being used. It doesn’t take much emotion to realize that the Bears may be in for another major overhaul.
Justin Fields is expected to be released by the Bears in the offseason.
Poles has only been at the job for a few years, but he and Warren get along well. Poles’ job may be the most secure of all. GMs typically have more leeway than head coaches.
Eberflus is 7-22 nearly two years into his first stint as general manager, and the team has made only minor strides despite having a plethora of draft picks and cap space to spend ahead of the 2023 season. He’s a likely candidate if Chicago decides it needs a scapegoat.
Finally, the possibility of the Bears parting ways with Fields this offseason is not new, but it has been heating up. Fields was inherited by both Poles and Eberflus.
The quarterback hasn’t improved as a passer in his third season, and the organization may decide to move on from him now that it has the option of selecting first overall in the 2024 draft.
On the “Mully & Haugh Show” on December 1, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune predicted that the Bears would make a change at quarterback in the offseason.
“That’s where it appears to be headed as I evaluate the situation,” Mr. Biggs said. “There are five games remaining, so he’s got an opportunity to change the trajectory of this thing.”
If Chicago decides to get rid of Fields, it will do so through a trade that should net them a first- or second-round pick. The team will then use the Carolina Panthers’ first-round pick, acquired in a trade prior to the 2023 draft, to select a high-ranking quarterback prospect, most likely Caleb Williams of USC or Drake May of North Carolina.
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