Well, it finally happened. The day after Thanksgiving, while everyone was either suffering from a food coma or waiting in line at Target for Black Friday, the Chicago Bears (4-8) fired head coach Matt Eberflus. This made Chicago fans more thankful for their organization than they were after the gut-punching loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving day. The decision to fire Eberflus was the first time in Bears history that a head coach was fired midseason.
After appointing Thomas Brown as the interim head coach, what is next for the team entering the last month of the season?
Get better every week, show improvements
The Bears currently are not in the ideal position for a playoff push. There is hope that the Bears win out the rest of the season and give them a positive record for the first time since 2018. But should that be their main focus?
With all the craziness this season, this feels like a fresh start for everybody. Brown stressed three focused characteristics: coachability, dependability and accountability. As the season starts to end, the focus should be on developing the talent they have and seeing continuous improvement. Obviously, you want to win out, but that shouldn’t just be the key focus.
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Brown needs to make up for lost time. Under his command, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has been performing like a first-overall pick for the first time all season long. This is thanks to Brown being the one to call the plays. They need to continue this path and get the locker room united. The wins will come when the entire organization is unified.
If the Bears end up with a 4-13 record, it better be because the other teams are better and not some crucial mistake or complete blowout. As long as we see constant improvement from Williams and the rest of the team, there is progress.
Poles, it’s time to cook
This was a long-awaited firing by the Bears. It wasn’t a surprise when fans were making memes about Eberflus firing before Adam Schefter could make the official tweet. People already made lists of who should be the next Bears head coach weeks before the news came out.
The one worry I have is that if the Bears find winning success, they will give the head coach job to Brown. This isn’t to say that Brown isn’t qualified for the full-time job. However, there are better options out there for the Bears to pursue.
For general manager Ryan Poles to rebound from this season, the pursuit for a new head coach should be priority No. 1 starting right now. Just like it is 3 a.m. on Black Friday, teams are already lining up and waiting to get their hands on the hottest available coach candidates.
The Bears need to be in the front of that line so that the minute they can talk to candidates, they are the first to meet with them.
We’ve seen this before in another league
The Bears roster is already set up for playoff success. Now, they need the right person to lead this team and keep the locker room united all season long. This next offseason makes or breaks Poles’ job as the Bears general manager.
I like to compare the Bears’ situation to the Golden State Warriors’ situation in the early 2010s. The Warriors had the talent to do something special, and all they needed was a coaching change. The next off-season, they brought in head coach Steve Kerr and won the NBA championship in their first season.
This is not me saying the Bears will win the Super Bowl next season when they make the new change. I am just saying that the Bears have talent and a quarterback who can be one of the best in the league. The right coach and scheme will push this team to the top.
At the end of the day, as long as Brown or the new head coach for the Bears remembers to call a timeout at the end of a close game, Chicago will be happy.
@Jon_Mathew23
