Bear Digest

Solving the Issues Created by Bears' Firing of Matt Eberflus

Analysis: From defensive scheme to the development of Caleb Williams, the departure of Matt Eberflus impacts the Bears' future in numerous ways.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams throws under Matt Eberflus' watchful eye. With coaching change here, development of their QB is a key issue.
Caleb Williams throws under Matt Eberflus' watchful eye. With coaching change here, development of their QB is a key issue. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
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Not to defend Matt Eberflus or pine for his return in a manner like so many unrealistic Justin Fields/Bears fans on social media, but there can be issues with the path the Bears have chosen through coaching change.

Of course the firing had to be done, but it's rare when flawless changeover of this type occurs.

The Bears have committed to coaching change for next season by the firing of Eberflus.

If Thomas Brown seizes the opportunity and proves himself against all odds, the Bears could find he gives them an easy path to success. They would be able to circumvent some of the problems teams encounter with coaching regime change.

However, chances are Brown won't be deemed immediate head coaching material and there will be a new head coach after the season.

It's just the way things go in the NFL. Rarely do head coaches come through the interim route. The Bears will get a very good gauge on how Brown can perform as a head coach from five games yet this season.

Still, the potential problems from Eberflus' departure exist.

4. The Setback

When there is coaching regime change, setback almost inevitably occurs. It's learning a new system, a new way of doing things. The HITS principle will be no more, and there probably aren't many people upset with this, including players.

What follows now invariably is starting in a hole next year. It doesn't have to be the way it was in 2022 when they rebuilt, though.

The Bears have plenty of talent in place already this time. They have cap space. They have a good number of draft picks coming, possibly even three very early picks.

More important than all of that, they have a quarterback who is an actual passer and puts up great numbers in fourth quarters.

There are examples of new coaches who came in this year and haven't had immediate struggles.

Jim Harbaugh is one. He's also not an example Bears fans want to hear about because it's always perceived they could have easily had him last year by putting up a little more of the McCaskeys' cash.

But he's not the only one. Dan Quinn stepped in and immediately made an impact with rookie QB Jayden Daniels in Washington, although they've backtracked a bit.

Mike McDonald took over a Seattle team seemingly in a state of decay and is tied for first with Arizona in the NFC West.

Atlanta's Raheem Morris is new this year, though definitely not new to the league. He was anything but successful in previous stints as a head coach. Yet his team also is in first place.

Pick the right coach and staff who can use this cache of talent and the Bears can avoid that setback phase of a rebuild. They did it themselves in 2018 when Matt Nagy came in and sorted through the garbage left from the John Fox regime.

The biggest issue leading to setback is one Eberflus always spoke about and that's time on task. If they can find ways to circumvent this obstacle with good coaching and a higher talent level, they can compete immediately.

3. The Assistants

Some of the assistants on the current staff have been very effective and regime change would or could mean losing them.

In particular, cornerbacks coach Jon Hoke is definitely one. Eberflus called him the best cornerbacks coach in the league. It's difficult to say the best but he definitely is in the picture.

The play of Bears cornerbacks improved dramatically once Hoke joined the staff at the start of Eberflus' second season. Who knows, maybe he wants to retire? He's 67 now, but if not, the Bears should do anything they can to lock him up with a new staff.

Safeties coach Andre Curtis is another of these, although safety is a position with greater skill variance according to scheme. So if their new defensive coordinator plans something similar to what they're using now, then Curtis could be another one. If they're playing a lot of safety in the box and blitzing every other play, then not so much.

There are others but there's no doubt some would also be encouraged to leave.

Keeping the better ones in place improves chances for the rapid climb.

2. The Defensive Scheme

This is a huge issue because of how it relates to personnel.

The one-gap front with the emphasis on Tampa-2 and cover-3 has been the basis of how the Bears play defense under Eberflus and decides the type of players they bring in for the scheme.

For instance, they don't use 340-pound road block nose tackles. Their guys up front need to be quick enough to get in a gap and attack upfield. They need attacking linemen, just like they need DBs adept in zone coverage but not bad man to man, because in the end there are numerous man-up passing situations in every game.

What if the coach Poles eventually settles on is not going to play the 4-3 base with this type of scheme?

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They're definitely going to be spending more money and draft picks for different types of players.

This can all be true on the other side of the ball, although the Bears seem fairly set with the exception of needing more offensive line depth and better personnel at a few positions. A real burner with world class speed at wide receiver wouldn't hurt, either. It's less style but adding more quality with the offensive side.

This personnel issue as it relates to the new coaching direction is huge in how fast the are competitive.

1. Developing the QB

The Bears have gone and done it again. You'll keep hearing this now.

Three quarterbacks drafted and after each one finished their first season, a new head coach.

First Mitchell Trubisky and then the John Fox/Dowell Loggains firings. Then Justin Fields and Matt Nagy was fired. Finally, Caleb Williams and now Matt Eberflus is fired.

This type of thing can slow a quarterback's growth greatly because they aren't as comfortable in a new offense when they start their second year, just like they weren't as rookies when they started out in a new offense coming out of college.

It's perceived the Bears' firing head coaches is simply going to ruin the early growth of Williams.

Here's a different take on it.

None of those offensive approaches were very good, and neither were the quarterbacks. That's why they failed.

Fields could run, he couldn't direct a team as a passer in the fourth quarter when games are decided and he held the ball way to long, then compounded it by fumbling way too much. Trubisky didn't have the arm to throw deep accurately.

Williams, as was said last week by Brown, "hasn't yet scratched the surface yet."

He's also shown drastic improvement despite being subjected to two different offensive coordinators in the same rookie year, one who was obviously not up to the challenge.

This is a different type of passer and player than the Bears had with the others, and his statistics in the face of so much adversity are proof. He's upped his numbers while going against some of the league's better defenses, not the cupcakes they faced earlier.

The other aspect of this is the new head coach and/or coordinator. Chicago is conditioned to seeing bad quarterbacks fail when developed by bad offensive coordinators and QB coaches. They have the good QB now, and if they add a good coordinator/head coach it could be an immediate upgrade over the bad situations of the past.

The best way to approach all this is getting a dynamic head coach from the offensive side who works closely with Williams. That type of coach-quarterback relationship can overcome any setbacks from working in a new offense and under new coaches in Year 2.

Someone like Bobby Slowik with Houston would be a better choice than Detroit's Ben Johnson because Slowik has experience taking a young quarterback and rapidly turning him into a success. Johnson hasn't had to do this at all in Detroit with Jared Goff or Matt Stafford at quarterback. He also has the benefit of the best offensive line in the league.

Even a coach like Kliff Kingsbury would be preferable to one who hasn't had to bring along an inexperienced passer. Kingsbury has loads of experience doing this, but in Arizona he seemed to fizzle out.

The list of other potentials will grow as the offseason approaches.

Changing offensive coordinators and head coaches doesn't have to be the problem people in Chicago make it out to be for Williams' development. They have a quarterback now, and simply giving him someone competent to work with as coordinator and/or head coach can mean a rapid growth and not certain setback.

It's all about the right fit.

One thing definitely true is someone like Luke Getsy or Shane Waldron would have been examples of coordinators who did not inspire young talent to blossom.

The new head coach and/or his coordinator need to be able to relate to a young passer and get the offense across to him. In this regard, Brown has a chance now and needs to capitalize.

This is opportunity, not doom.

It's all up to Poles to get someone who actually can hasten Williams' development and win games in the fourth quarter's final minutes instead of bumbling around and wasting everyone's time.

Twitter: Bears OnSI

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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.