Bear Digest

Lincoln Riley Possibility for Bears Merely Cheap Name Dropping

Analysis: It sounded like fantasy talk when Fox host Colin Cowherd suggested the possibility Matt Eberflus would be in trouble with a poor start and Lincoln Riley rumors would pop up.

Gene Chamberlain

Bears QB Caleb Williams talks with USC coach Lincoln Riley during a USC game last season.
Bears QB Caleb Williams talks with USC coach Lincoln Riley during a USC game last season. / Abigail Dollins / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

Caleb Williams' start to the season and a 1-1 Bears record means they've hit a critical point in their schedule already.

Stumbling in this juncture could mean their head coach's job, according to the way one national talk show host sees it.

As a Fox Sports "shock jock," Colin Cowherd frequently throws out all kinds of ridiculous statements and even said last fall the Bears were out of the running for Williams after their win over Carolina, when they owned Carolina's pick.

Cowherd thinks Matt Eberflus needs success over the next four games and even put forth a coach-to-expect rumor, a sort of pre-rumor rumor.

"I'll just throw this out there: If you look at their schedule, if they (the Bears) lose three of the next four games, you will hear Lincoln Riley rumors," Cowherd said. "I promise you.

"Now I don't think Lincoln Riley wants it. He's got a great staff at USC. He's going to beat Michigan. They're going to be 3-0. They're going to be a top five, six, seven team. You're not going to take that (Bears) job. That's not a good fit for Lincoln Riley."

The fact someone is already ushering Eberflus out the door after a 1-1 start is wild enough without accurately producing a successor. If Cowherd had a real feel for the way ownership in Chicago thinks and the way GM Ryan Poles feels about Eberflus, then he would definitely have to reconsider the comment because the only way Poles could be more supportive of his coach is if he was a family member. And George McCaskey hand-picked this whole operation. The last time a McCaskey did that, they gave Dave Wannstedt six years to get the house in order before blowing the whole thing up.

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The reason Cowherd mentions Riley is because of the Caleb Williams connection as his college coach at Oklahoma and USC. Cowherd says he sees the Bears mishandling the quarterback situation after two weeks.

"The biggest concern for Chicago is that every single red flag that we were concerned about, every single one, has already surfaced in two weeks," Cowherd said. "O-line issues, coaching competency, accuracy issues, Keenan Allen struggling to stay healthy like he did with the Chargers, Caleb not playing great or always in structure. So all of the red flags have surfaced."

Cowherd questions whether Eberflus and staff have the right experience and coaching ability to handle a QB like Williams.

"He's an improvisational quarterback," Cowherd said. "It's a lot of off-script stuff. That was (Patrick) Mahomes early. Now Mahomes is much more structured."

He cited others.

"Shane Steichen gave Jalen Hurts the structure, (Jim) Harbaugh less quarterback reliant giving Justin Herbert the right structure. Kyler Murray this weekend did a lot of it. I'm for it but those kind of quarterbacks need strong coaching to get structure. And I'm not sure its in the building.

"I don't know if the Bears have it. Caleb Williams needs to be coached hard and I don't know if Chicago can do it."

Citing Murray doesn't exactly back his argument when his head coach is definitely no more well-versed at handling a QB than Eberflus, and actually has less experience at it.

The names Cowherd reeled off and his comments don't quit sync up. Mahomes still does off script stuff. He only reduced some because he became more experienced in the offense and didn't need to rely on it a much. Hurts still is a dual-threat quarterback, as he showed on Monday night. Herbert has played two games and the Chargers won both, but calling Herbert and the Chargers' structure the keys is a real reach. Harbaugh knows how to lean on a running game. That's their key.

The Bears knew how to do that until now. But even with Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron there is plenty of experience making bad quarterbacks into good ones. After all, Waldron took Geno Smith's dead-end career and resurrected him.

The truth of the matter is all quarterbacks need "structure." There has never been one who came into the league and succeeded without it. It's not the NBA. Single player dominance counts for nothing, even at quarterback.

One thing Cowherd does have right is how critical this next stetch of games is. He's not even right about the number of games, though. It's actually five games and not four. With the end of their schedule loaded with strong opponents, the Bears need to be at least 3-2 or even 4-1 in the next five to have a chance at a playoff run.

They're at the Colts, host the Rams, are in London against the Jaguars, have a bye, then are at Washington and Arizona before playing New England at home. All are winnable games. The Rams have so many injuries now that their playoff aspirations are fading after an 0-2 start.

Some of those teams are resurgent. So it won't be easy for the Bears to count on winning any of them. Murray is playing well for Arizona and even the woeful Patriots looked stronger in the opener. With Andy Dalton quarterbacking Carolina now, it could be a revenge game of sorts for him against the Bears.

Bears ownership doesn't really (ever) get into firing coaches at midseason and definitely doesn't get involved in putting their coaches on the spot with leaked reports to media.

So if there are reports about Riley linked to the Bears in the future, it will have to be in the distant future—like late January.

There's a lot of football to be played, but be certain of this: If the Bears get on a roll in the next few weeks, Cowherd will be the first one jumping on their bandwagon and inviting others back on it, just like he's the first one to jump off in tougher times.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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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.