Matt Eberflus grew to become the primary Bears head coach in franchise historical past to get canned in-season. Contemplating the lengthy checklist of questionable calls and demoralizing losses, the transfer didn’t come as an entire shock…particularly to these within the constructing.
According to Adam Jahns and Dianna Russini of The Athletic, gamers had been particularly “livid” following Chicago’s loss on Thursday. Many gamers questioned Eberflus’s determination to not name a timeout earlier than the final play, with workforce captain Jaylon Johnson described as particularly “emotional.”
“We felt as gamers it’s been too many situations the place we fought our means again into video games to lose due to unhealthy time administration and decision-making,” one participant informed The Athletic.
One staffer famous that the post-game locker room “was ugly” and featured “a number of yelling.” Whereas Eberflus tried calming down his squad with a speech, he didn’t cling round, and his gamers continued to fume. Eberflus’s uncharacteristic exit from the locker room may have additionally been as a result of presence of workforce president Kevin Warren, who notably hung across the workforce for much longer than standard following the Thanksgiving debacle.
The locker room outburst seemed to be coming for a very long time. As The Athletic notes, Ebereflus’s latest makes an attempt to take accountability for the workforce’s mounting losses appeared “insincere” and countered his differing tone from earlier within the season. Whereas the now-former HC tried saving face by firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, many within the locker room believed Waldron wasn’t the correct alternative.
Particularly, the offensive coordinator put in a “pure development passing system,” an idea troublesome for any QB. With Caleb Williams main the best way underneath middle, some gamers voiced issues that the workers wasn’t placing the rookie able to succeed. It additionally went past the passing offense; Waldron scrapped “two years of progress underneath offensive line coach Chris Morgan” by fully revamping the workforce’s working assault.
“The place they tousled was with Shane and making him the coordinator to start with,” one participant informed The Athletic.
Chicago had a 4-2 report heading into the bye week, and the workforce’s demise was a collective effort. Nonetheless, Eberflus was going to be the clear scapegoat. Curiously, Eberflus met with the media hours earlier than his firing. The Athletic notes that Morgan, chairman George McCaskey, and GM Ryan Poles had been nonetheless assembly throughout that scheduled press convention, and the trio didn’t wish to sign that “one thing massive was occurring” by canceling Eberflus’s presser.
If there’s any silver lining, there appears to be rising optimism surrounding interim head coach Thomas Brown. The workforce’s former passing sport coordinator was promoted to OC following Waldron’s firing. The Athletic notes that the coach’s “communication model and management expertise earned the respect of gamers and workers.”
