In case you somehow have missed the conversation for the past three weeks, Matt Eberflus is on the hot seat. The Chicago Bears have crumbled from 4-2 to 4-6 over the last month. Much of it can be traced to the head coach’s poor decision-making in two gut-wrenching losses to Washington and Green Bay. A recent poll revealed that 90% of Bears fans are done with him. They want a change. His inability to solve the offensive issues and horrible situational awareness makes it clear his ceiling has been reached. It is time for a change.
The question is, who will replace him? Rumors are flying about Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel, and even an in-house move to Thomas Brown. However, Bleacher Report revealed the expectation that Chicago would pull arguably its biggest swerve of the new millennium at head coach by bringing in a controversial name.
The McCaskey family has a long history of avoiding coaches with big personalities. Dave Wannstedt, Dick Jauron, Lovie Smith, Marc Trestman, John Fox, Matt Nagy, and Eberflus all prove this. Gruden is notorious for being outspoken, demanding, and having a massive ego. He’s loud and boisterous. Another part of this is his track record. Since emerging on the scene in the late 1990s, Gruden has worked almost exclusively with veteran quarterbacks. It started with Rich Gannon in Oakland, then Brad Johnson, Brian Griese, and Jeff Garcia in Tampa Bay. After finally returning to Las Vegas a few years ago, he inherited Derek Carr. Taking over the development of Caleb Williams would be a departure for him.
Nobody can dispute his success. He had winning records with both the Raiders and Buccaneers, won a Super Bowl in 2002, and posted a top-15 offense ten times. He also seemed open to the Chicago Bears job when asked about it on Pardon My Take. There is no question that the hire would grab headlines. It just doesn’t seem like something this organization would consider.
