Perspective is a funny thing. One person admires a rainbow while the person next to him wonders if the new movie about killer tornadoes is any good.
I read Patrick Finley’s excellent story in Sunday’s Chicago Sun-Times about Matt Eberflus’ change of fortune as the Bears head coach. As Finley pointed out, Eberflus’ job status was very much up in the air last year but now, with the addition of Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen, he’s a betting favorite for NFL Coach of the Year honors. There’s the sense that he can breathe now, having dodged a pink slip and been given more talent.
I look at it another way: Eberflus has a ton of pressure on him to succeed.
I know how he’d answer that: Every NFL coach has a ton of pressure to succeed. But this is a different kind of pressure. This is the pressure of raised expectations. This is a prove-it season for the third-year head coach.
I’m guessing Eberflus would regard that as a “Debbie Downer’’ appraisal, which is how he regarded a recent question about how far the Bears have come since losing 14 straight games on his watch. I think of it more as a “Rational Ricky’’ view of life. I see a big city that has big dreams now that the Bears purportedly have the kind of transformative quarterback they’ve been seeking for decades. It follows, then, that Eberflus has to win now.
Or else?
Well, these are the Bears, owned by the McCaskey family, which doesn’t like making drastic moves, unless it involves a new stadium. But the one inarguable, non-negotiable truth is that Williams has to look like he’s on track to be a star this season. That doesn’t mean he has to have a ridiculously successful rookie year. It means he has to steadily improve and look good doing it, which is one of the hallmarks of excellent coaching. If he doesn’t, then it will be fair to wonder what the point was of bringing Eberflus back as head coach. In the offseason, he remade his offensive coaching staff. New coordinator Shane Waldron will have to look like he knows what he’s doing to satisfy a fan base that was certain former coordinator Luke Getsy didn’t.
The Bears and Chicago can’t go through another weekly debate about whether the starting quarterback is any good. Everyone involved – coaches, players and fans – died a little more with each discussion about whether Justin Fields, and Mitch Trubisky before him, had what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. Williams has to be The Answer, for the city’s sanity as much as anything.
So, yeah, the pressure is on Eberflus as the director of this movie. It’s the kind of pressure that feels like a defensive tackle kneeling on your chest.
In a recent column, I wrote that a realistic 2024 record for the Bears would be 9-8 after they finished 7-10 last season. Now, a 9-8 record doesn’t come close to reflecting the amount of excitement that has built up since the team used the No. 1 overall draft pick on Williams, the former USC star. I’m not sure a 30-0 regular-season record would adequately reflect the excitement. Maybe the number doesn’t quite matter so much. Something about this season has to feel like the franchise is going places.
Those heightened expectations are what Eberflus will be up against. It’s not a bad thing. If you’re a coach, you’d much rather be burdened with unreasonable hopes than mass despair. A certain impatience, the kind born of two playoff appearances the past 13 years, permeates this town. People are sick of the nothingness that the Bears have spooned them year after year. The 40th anniversary of the franchise’s only Super Bowl victory will be celebrated next year. One can understand the restless toe-tapping.
It’s Eberflus’ time to prove himself after a 10-24 start to his head coaching job. He finally has some talent to work with on both sides of the ball. All eyes will be on young Mr. Williams, but plenty of glances will be directed at the 54-year-old coach. It’s already started. The first 21 paragraphs of a recent ESPN.com profile on Eberflus were about his new hairstyle and beard. No one would care about his makeover if there weren’t heightened expectations for his team.
There’s nowhere to hide now. He can’t hide behind added facial hair and subtracted scalp hair. He can’t hide behind a bad team or a bad roster. He can’t hide behind an underwhelming quarterback or an in-over-his-head offensive coordinator.
And you know what? It sounds as if Eberflus likes it this way.
That looks good on him.