The Chicago Bears have five games left in the 2023 regular season, but the team is already looking ahead.
Josina Anderson of CBS Sports reported on Tuesday, December 5, that the Bears will look closely at Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy as a possible replacement for head coach Matt Eberflus.
“I’m told the Chicago #Bears are expected to have interest in #Commanders assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, among others, with general knowledge that current HC Matt Eberflus is under evaluation with the team at 4-8, per source,” Anderson wrote on Twitter.
Eric Bieniemy Is Related to Bears General Manager Ryan Poles and Former Head Coach Matt Nagy
Bieniemy represents both a departure from the Bears’ current leadership and a return to a path that the franchise has taken recently.
Ryan Poles arrived in Chicago as general manager ahead of the 2022 season after spending several years in the front office of the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bears fired head coach Matt Nagy after four years in charge just fifteen days before Poles was hired.
Nagy came to Chicago from Kansas City, where he was the offensive coordinator. Following Nagy’s departure, Bieniemy was promoted to Chiefs offensive coordinator, a position he held until departing for Washington ahead of this season for more money and the additional title of assistant head coach.
Nagy is back as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator after a year under Bieniemy in 2022.
Nagy, an offensive mind, led the Bears to a 34-31 record over four seasons and was part of the group that selected quarterback Justin Fields No. 11 overall in 2021. Poles took a different approach with Eberflus, who spent four seasons as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator before taking the big job in Chicago.
Poles and Bieniemy worked together for several years in Kansas City, where the OC won two Super Bowl rings. Due to his success with the Chiefs, Bieniemy is one of the most respected offensive minds in the NFL, and he makes sense as a hire whether the Bears try to save Fields as the franchise quarterback or use the Carolina Panthers’ pick, which they acquired in a trade last spring, to select an elite QB prospect in 2024.
Eric Bieniemy has a better chance of landing with the Bears than Jim Harbaugh.
Jim Harbaugh of Michigan is another prominent name mentioned in connection with the Bears’ potential head coaching opening.
Harbaugh has a history with the Chicago Bears, whom he led to a 35-30 record as the team’s quarterback from 1987 to 1993. He may be looking to return to the NFL after a sign-stealing scandal at Michigan this year, and he should be in high demand after three consecutive College Football Playoff berths.
However, Harbaugh and new Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren have a history from their time together in the Big Ten Conference, according to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report.
Matt Eberflus claims he is focused on the Bears’ job and not the threat of losing it.
As for Eberflus, he continues to coach the team despite rumors of bigger names in line for his job swirling around the franchise on a daily basis.
On Monday, Eberflus met with members of the media, during which a reporter asked him about his job security and whether he felt “safe” because of the public support Poles have shown for the head coach throughout the 2023 campaign.
“All you can focus on is 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.”
According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Eberflus will keep his job until the end of the regular season, after which Warren, Poles, and others will evaluate his future employment.
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