Matt Eberflus Wrote Down Only One Thing Nick Saban Told Him. Here’s What It Was
The first episode of Hard Knocks with the Chicago Bears was an intriguing one. It covered plenty of topics, including D.J. Moore’s extension, roster battles, Keenan Allen’s arrival, and others. However, the central focus was, unsurprisingly, Caleb Williams. Everybody knows how vital the #1 overall pick is to the future of this franchise. That comes with a lot of pressure. Nobody feels that more than head coach Matt Eberflus. He knows the Bears’ history at the position and how previous coaches routinely failed to fix it. Falling into that same trap is something he fears.
So, like any sensible person, he sought advice from somebody who could help. Eberflus reached out to one of his mentors, legendary college coach Nick Saban. The seven-time national champion knows a lot about football, including the challenges of developing quarterbacks. He’s made his own mistakes there, but he learned from them. During the debut episode of Hard Knocks, cameras caught the two men conversing. Eberflus was seen taking notes, but only one time. It came from one question.
“Do you do anything special with the quarterback?”
Matt Eberflus got some great advice.
After all, Saban is like him. He’s a defensive guy. Quarterbacks were never in his area of expertise coming up the football ranks. However, that had to change once he became a head coach. Simply telling a player what he’s doing wrong doesn’t always work. They’re focused on so many different things simultaneously that the instructions can get lost. The best thing to do is illustrate to them through video evidence why things are done a certain way. It isn’t meant to criticize them. It is meant to show how this makes them, and the team, better.
It appears Matt Eberflus has heeded those words. He and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron have worked hard to help Williams understand the importance of footwork and body control inside the pocket. NFL throwing windows are much tighter than in college. Only good accuracy and ball placement can counteract that rise in difficulty. This comes from mastery of your lower body mechanics. By the sound of things, Williams has gotten considerably better over the course of training camp. The goal for Eberflus is to stay on message, helping his quarterback whenever and wherever possible. If he sticks to the developmental plan, things will come to fruition.