Bear Digest

Another Bears Announcement Still to Come with Coaching Staff

Matt Eberflus was wearing two hats with the Bears and now they'll need someone else to assume the other role he had besides head coach.

Gene Chamberlain

It's possible Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington will now assume the defensive play-calling duties with Matt Eberflus gone.
It's possible Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington will now assume the defensive play-calling duties with Matt Eberflus gone. / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
In this story:

While all of the focus has been on Matt Eberlus' departure and the naming of offensive coordinator Thomas Brown as acting Bears head coach, the real change involve the other side of the football.

Eberflus called the defensive signals for the Bears, and had been doing it since the resignation of former Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams in Week 2 of the 2023 season.

So the Bears will need a new defensive play caller. Although they haven't officially announced it, defensive coordinator Eric Washington would be the logical candidate.

The Bears enjoyed getting Washington on their coaching staff as coordinator because of his reputation for working with defensive lines but he has very little experience as a defensive play caller.
Linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi any of the other defensive assistants like Jon Hoke or safeties coach Andre Carter have more experience with the particular defensive scheme, although they'd be lacking the defensive coordinator credentials as well.

It's not that Washington hasn't called plays in the NFL. He just wasn't allowed to continue doing it when he hadn't necessarily been bad at it.

Washington became defensive coordinator and signal caller at the start of the 2018 season when Ron Rivera was Carolina Panthers head coach. Rivera took back play-calling duties from him in early December while the Panthers were in the process of losing 24-17 to Tampa Bay. the Panthers were 14th in overall defense and 12th in scoring with Washington as defensive play caller. They finished 10th on defense and 14th in scoring defense.

However, the defense had gone through a four-week stretch with only one takeaway and was 19th in sacks when Rivera made that move.

"One thousand percent ready," Washington said of his preparedness when named defensive coordinator and play caller.

Curtis was a defensive passing game coordinator four years with Seattle but never a defensive coordinator.

As bad as the end of games were under Eberflus, he did know his defense and scheme. The Bears are ninth in scoring defense, although they have slipped badly in yards allowed over the last three weeks to 19th. They are 12th against the pass and 25th against the run. The big emphasis Eberflus had wsa takeaways and the Bears are sixth with 19 of them.

They'll also need to decide whether Brown is going to stay on the sidelines now. He had been calling plays in the coaches' box. It would seem unlikely he'd continue doing that if he's coaching the full team.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.