The Chicago Bears made the decision to retain head coach Matt Eberflus for the 2024 season, a decision that wasn’t exactly met with approval from a majority of the fanbase.
On a day where Chicago parted ways with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, general manager Ryan Poles opted to stick by Eberflus heading into Year 3 of the rebuild.
Poles told reporters Wednesday that he decision to retain Eberflus was his call, but it was one he ran by president Kevin Warren and chairman George McCaskey and “we were all on the same page.”
Poles explained why he decided to run it back with Eberflus this season, pointing to his leadership skills and progress as reasons the Bears retained him.
“I really think that the head coach needs to guide the ship when he sees storms and really keep everything settled,” Poles said. “When you go through hard times, you need to keep everyone together. I think that’s like a critical piece in a big market like this. You have to be strong. If he’s jumping off a boat and everyone else starts jumping off the boat, it’s a hot mess. So, the stability is a big piece of it.”
Poles credited Eberflus for his ability to keep his team together during the hard times, which included a franchise-worst 14-game losing streak, 1-5 start and three blown fourth-quarter leads, and the late-season turnaround.
“I saw a lot of progress,” Poles said. “There’s a reason why we went from three to seven wins. The player aspect of it is important but also the detail and bringing the team together through those hard times, allowing us to push through. You saw a lot of those wins happen at the back of the season. If it’s not for him, I don’t think that’s the case. I think it starts to crumble, everyone starts to do their own thing. To me, that was a critical piece of that.”
While it took two days for the Bears to hold their end-of-year press conference to announce the news, they took time to evaluate everything and ultimately decided Eberflus is the guy to lead this team in the right direction.
“What I pride myself on, really pride our entire organization, is we take this step after the season to let the dust settle, let the emotions get out and make the most sound decision that you possibly can make,” Poles said. “That’s what we did the last few days, is just make sure we settle down, look at the big picture and make sure we’re going in the right direction.”