Bears coach Matt Eberflus’ decision to change offensive coordinators was better than doing nothing as the season careened toward disaster, but the circumstances in which he arrived there raised all kinds of questions he didn’t want to answer Wednesday.
Probably because the truth isn’t great.
He preferred not to discuss the past when it came to firing Shane Waldron and replacing him with assistant Thomas Brown and tried unsuccessfully to spin the conversation toward his outlook on Brown and the upcoming home game against the Packers rather than show true accountability by coming clean about his errors.
Eberflus inexplicably didn’t seem to see the Waldron problem bubbling up until it exploded Sunday in a 19-3 loss to the Patriots even though players have been hinting at it since September. His answer on how he went from defiantly defending Waldron last week to firing him Tuesday was that he makes decisions “week-to-week.”
When pressed on how he and general manager Ryan Poles possibly got the Waldron hire so wrong after a thorough search that included interviewing nine candidates, including Brown and Kliff Kingsbury, Eberflus said, “You know, to me, it’s about what is happening right now.”
Poles said even less, declining a request to speak with reporters. He hasn’t addressed the media publicly since Oct. 9 in London.
Understanding the steps that led here, though, are crucial in preventing this happening again as Eberflus moves on to his third offensive coordinator in less than three seasons. There’s no way they can allow him to stick around and choose another one.
That’s a conversation he’s having with not only the media, but his bosses. Team president Kevin Warren takes a no-nonsense approach and surely wanted an explanation for a hiring that proved to be all-nonsense. Poles has culpability in the hire, too, but he’s entitled to answers as well after he took a big risk by bringing Eberflus back this season on the assumption of no dysfunction.
“Third play caller, and I take full accountability for that,” Eberflus said. “I take full responsibility for that, and it’s got to get better.”
Everyone already knows that.
Eberflus has been saying “full responsibility” a lot lately, which is exactly how it sounded at the end for Matt Nagy three years ago. It’s better than shirking blame, but eventually there’s too much “full responsibility” for a coach to remain employed.
In his weekly meeting with chairman George McCaskey, Warren and Poles on Monday, Eberflus said they did not talk about his job security.
By his own account, Eberflus was somehow still undecided at that point and through the end of the day. That means Waldron left Halas Hall that night unsure of his future, and NFL Network reported Eberflus was planning as of then to keep him as offensive coordinator.
Eberflus refused to address that, but regardless, he didn’t decide until Tuesday morning, and the delay kept Brown, previously the passing-game coordinator, from starting on a game plan for the Packers until then.
That opens speculation as to whether Warren, Poles or someone else redirected Eberflus between Monday night and Tuesday morning. He said he got “counsel” in his meeting with McCaskey, Warren and Poles, but insisted it was his call.
Given how much Eberflus let slide before finally considering a change Sunday night, it’s reasonable to wonder whether he would’ve arrived at this choice without the public outrage, input from his superiors and player frustration.
That prompts another concern: Why, as Waldron’s boss, was the head coach unable to give him direct orders on changes he wanted to see?
“It could be a lot of things,” Eberflus said, then specified none.
When a coach doesn’t have any answers, the questions speak for themselves.