Ryan Poles was certain he had the right person when he pinpointed Matt Eberflus as the next head coach of the Chicago Bears. He saw a tough, disciplined guy with a clear plan for developing players to be their best. It came through hard work, effort, intensity, and intelligence. Unfortunately, it became clear over time that the head coach was overmatched by his responsibilities. They were masked over the first two years because the Bears were in the middle of a rebuild, but this 2024 season left no further doubts.
As it turns out, the alarm bells were going off about Eberflus early. According to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, many inside the locker room weren’t overly impressed with him. While not a bad guy or anything, his communication ability was stilted and never felt genuine. He was almost trying to portray what he thought a head coach should be rather than being himself. Most of his speeches were built around sayings, slogans, and one-liners that, after a while, stopped landing.
Throughout his coaching tenure, Eberlus was described inside Halas Hall as “awkward,” “corny” and “inexplicably isolated at times,” even when it came to interacting with his assistant coaches.
“There was a miscalculation on the connectivity piece with Matt and his ability to rally guys,” one source said. “After a while, you run out of sayings. You run out of slogans. You run out of coaching one-liners. And when all of that runs out, who are you really? And do you still have the ability to tap into your guys so they can maximize their talents for you?”
Anybody who watched his press conferences could tell how uncomfortable he was. He always hid behind his common sayings and never seemed to have a firm grasp of the moment. Self-awareness was a constant issue. That sense of isolation would explain why so many of his comments and decisions came across as tone-deaf. Not taking responsibility for the horrible coverage call before the Hail Mary in Washington was one example. Defending the non-timeout decision in Detroit was another. Players had seen enough.
One can only imagine how guys must’ve felt trapped. They knew Matt Eberflus wasn’t up to the task but also knew they couldn’t say anything at risk of being labeled a malcontent. What people saw unfold in Detroit was merely the dam finally breaking. It is fair to wonder how in the world Poles and others didn’t sense the problem sooner, or didn’t do anything about it if they did. This is why it might not be wise for the organization to trust this GM with another head coaching hire.
