It isn’t a secret that fans and media wanted Matt Eberflus gone. That has been the case for weeks. In truth, many urged the Chicago Bears to make the move last January, feeling it was necessary for the future of the quarterback they planned to draft. It didn’t happen. A few months later, he became the first head coach in franchise history to get fired midseason. People are left wondering who finally pushed it over the finish line since it obviously wasn’t ownership. The McCaskeys have resisted doing something like this for decades.
Enter SearSTower. The Twitter handle has become a new sensation lately for its surprisingly accurate information. It was the first to state that former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was signing with the Minnesota Vikings.
That is why it was interesting when they delivered detailed information about what was happening in Halas Hall. From what he’s heard, the biggest voice in the building for moving on from Eberflus has been GM Ryan Poles. That’s right, the man everybody believes has protected the head coach all season has made the strongest argument to move on. A source corroborated to SM that it began after the loss to New England.
For those still skeptical, Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog basically confirmed this as well after the firing became official.
The GM went against the wishes of many by bringing the head coach back this season. That includes team president Kevin Warren, who is said to have preferred moving on. Poles felt the coach deserved a chance to build on the momentum he’d created towards the end of last season. It looked like that was a smart decision after the Bears started 4-2. Then the offense fell apart, Shane Waldron was fired, the Hail Mary happened, and things spiraled after that. Poles was ready to pull the plug after the Patriots fiasco, but ownership resisted the idea. They prefer to let coaches finish a season. However, the debacle in Detroit finally pushed it over the red line.
One thing we’ve learned about Poles is he’s a pragmatic man. When he realizes something isn’t working anymore, he doesn’t waste time moving on. He traded Chase Claypool barely a year after acquiring him from Pittsburgh. Nate Davis was cut less than two seasons into his sizable free agent contract. It is keeping with his character that he flipped on Matt Eberflus once it became clear the head coach was in over his head. At last, he finally got his way.
