Freefalling Bears fire head coach Matt Eberflus day after stunning clock gaffe
The Chicago Bears fired third-year head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, multiple media outlets reported.
The reports came less than 24 hours after Eberflus suffered a sixth straight defeat, deciding their third consecutive defeat in the final game. The Bears fell to 4-8 on the season.
Per multiple outlets, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will serve as interim head coach.
His resignation came shortly after Eberflus announced plans to conduct business as usual during his Friday morning news conference with reporters. He was then scheduled to meet with team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles.
“The operation went normally,” Eberflus said of his plans for Friday in the office, with the players at home for a long weekend before returning to training on Monday.
The Bears have never fired a coach during the season and Eberflus indicated he didn’t expect to be the first.
“I’m confident I’ll work toward San Francisco and prepare for that game,” Eberflus said, pointing to the Week 14 matchup with the 49ers.
Eberflus, 54, went 19-10 in his coaching debut with the Bears in 2022 but is 13-32 since then.
On Thursday, Chicago lost 23-20 at Detroit after rebounding from a dormant first half and putting the ball in field goal range when quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked. In a series that started with 32 seconds left on the game clock, the Bears had options. They could have spiked the ball to stop the clock, attempted a field goal from about 60 yards, or made a first down with enough time to “clock” the ball.
Another option that Eberflus did not use was setting a timeout.
Instead, the ball was snapped 28 seconds later and Williams threw an incompletion down the right sideline as time expired.
Media members repeatedly questioned Eberflus during press conferences about taking personal responsibility. But on Friday he said the Bears handled the final series appropriately and that “the operation was not fast enough.”
Wide receiver Keenan Allen said Thursday afternoon that “as players we did enough to win the game.”
Williams said the timeout call wasn’t his.
“We can call a timeout there or not,” he said. “I’m not going to say I was surprised. My job is to just go out there and make plays. I let the coaches and everyone make that decision; it’s their decision. Maybe in the later years of my career this will be my decision.”
Poles paid a personal visit to Williams in the locker room for a chat, and Warren was on guard to take in the wide-angle scene of wrapping up in the locker room to return to Chicago with an 0-3 record in the NFC North. The Bears had chances to beat all three division opponents, but the Packers blocked a game-winning FG attempt by Cairo Santos, the Vikings escaped Chicago with a 30-27 overtime victory and the Lions squeezed away on Thanksgiving Day as Chicago threatened in the final minute. .