(Image credit Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-35407618
When the Chicago Bears unsurprisingly fired Matt Nagy one of their questions heading into the offseason was Who will be the new Head Coach for the team. Well, that question now has an answer as news came that the Chicago Bears have decided to hire Matt Eberflus as their head coach. Now as always I want to dive into the coaching experience that Matt Eberflus has had in the sport of Football.
Matt Eberflus started coaching in college football with the University of Toledo. He actually spent many years with the university from (1992-2000) as a student assistant coach, Graduate assistant, Recruiting coordinator, Outside linebackers coach, and Defensive backs coach. Then Matt Eberflus got hired as the defensive coordinator for Missouri and he spent a lot of years with them from (2001 to 2008). Next, he made his debut as an NFL coach with the Cleveland Browns where he was the linebackers coach from (2009-2010). The Dallas Cowboys decided to bring him in as the Linebacker coach (2011-2015). The Dallas Cowboys in 2016 decided to promote him by adding to his duties by naming him as the Linebackers coach & passing game coordinator (2016-2017). Now the Indianapolis Colts are up as they decided to hire him as the defensive coordinator (2018-2021). In total, he has 30 years of coaching experience in the sport of football which is very impressive. Keep in mind most of those years were mainly in college but he has great experience as well in the NFL. Especially on defense as clearly he is a defensive-minded coach.
Now many are probably going to disagree with me here but I am not that big of a fan of the Bears hiring Matt Eberflus as the head coach. It is not because of Eberflus as a whole but it is because I think the Bears absolutely needed to get an offensive-minded coach that actually cares to develop QB Justin Fields instead of trying to ruin him. Remind Me why Matt Nagy was not fired earlier in the season? Anyway, the point being is I think it would have been a better option for the Bears to hire a coach that has more experience in the offense. One thing is for sure and that is the fact that the Bears have to get a good offensive coordinator on their team that can convince offensive players to join the Chicago Bears. In my Ryan Poles GM article, I listed some questions that I wondered about: How Can the Bears Support Justin Fields?. With Hiring Eberflus I still don’t know if this answer has even been close to being solved.
Another concern that I have with Eberflus is that disgraceful game against the Jacksonville Jaguars week 18 of the 2021 NFL Season concerns me. Especially with how poorly the defensive schemes were and how the team never adapted. That is on coaching with Frank Reich and Matt Eberfus. Plus it gave me another concern that the Colts always came up short in big games especially on defense, and they struggled to put pressure on the quarterback throughout the entire season. I have concerns that this trend could also continue for Eberflus during his tenure with Chicago as well. Hopefully in Chicago, he can not come up short on a consistent basis.
Even though I am not a fan of this Hire I do understand why the Bears made the decision to hire Eberflus. He is a defensive-minded guy and the Bears defense has suffered massive regression. Maybe with his coaching, the defense will be more hyped and motivated to play. Speaking of which I feel the culture could be handled well as many Colts players showed a lot of respect for when the news came of his hire. He can help the development of players but only on the defensive side of the football. In my Ryan Poles GM article, I listed some questions that I wondered about: How will the Chicago Bears fix the defense? I think this answer is partially solved for now it is up to the organization to fully solve this question.
But as always I want to congratulate Mr. Eberflus for being hired as the head coach for the Chicago Bears. I wish him luck during his tenure with the Chicago Bears and hopefully, he proves me wrong about my concerns about this hire by bringing success to the Chicago Bears.