In Matt Eberflus’ final appearance as Bears‘ coach Friday, he defended the poor clock management that ultimately pushed the team to fire him. He was not aware at the time that he would be fired that day, and Saturday released a statement thanking the team and praising his players.
“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the players for all of their effort, dedication and resilience,” Eberflus said in a statement released to CBS. “In every situation — practice, games and especially in the face of adversity, you stayed together and gave great effort for your team and each other.”
He added that he was “most proud of… the way you carried yourself both on and off the field and represented the Bears’ organization with class in the community,” and thanked Bears fans for their “support and passion.”
Eberflus went 14-32 in two-plus seasons as coach before the team replaced him with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.