Matt Eberflus is entering “Jerry World.”
The former Bears head coach is the Cowboys’ pick to be their next defensive coordinator, a marriage that became likely the minute Brian Schottenheimer was named their head coach Friday. The Cowboys officially hired him Tuesday after spending the weekend interviewing candidates to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which requires that teams meet with minority candidates for coordinator jobs.
With the Cowboys on the Bears’ schedule this season, Eberflus will return to Soldier Field.
It’s a soft landing spot for the former Bears head coach — and a homecoming, too. Eberflus was the Cowboys’ linebackers coach from 2011-15 and then added the title of defensive pass game coordinator for two years before moving to Indianapolis to be the Colts’ defensive coordinator. He spent four seasons there before the Bears hired him for an ultimately ill-fated stint as head coach.
The Bears fired Eberflus the day after a Thanksgiving loss to the Lions in which he failed to call a timeout in the game’s final seconds. He was 14-32 before becoming the first Bears coach ever to be fired before the end of a season.
Eberflus interviewed for the Falcons’ defensive coordinator job earlier this month but was not chosen.
The Bears still have three former Eberflus assistants under contract — defensive line coach Travis Smith, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi and safeties coach Andre Curtis. Some or all of those coaches could follow him to Dallas.
New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, whom the Bears picked Sunday night, figures to interview position coaches to come work for him. The Bears already agreed to hire Al Harris as the secondary coach/defensive pass-game coordinator, replacing Jon Hoke.
