Eberflus Out as Head Coach of Chicago Bears After Residency
Eberflus met with reporters on Friday morning, expressing confidence that he would be leading the team in Week 14, but only hours later, the Chicago Bears organization decided otherwise. This marks the first time in franchise history that they have parted ways with a coach midseason.
Eberflus leaves with a 14-32 record and has started each of his three seasons with four or fewer wins through Week 12. Despite calls for change in the offseason, the team decided to retain the head coach, who hired new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. However, despite improved weapons, the offense underperformed, and the team eventually fired Waldron and promoted passing game coordinator to play-caller.
The team’s defense, which had been the backbone of the team, began to deteriorate, resulting in a six-game losing streak, including a number of coaching errors. The final straw came on Thursday, when Eberflus failed to use a timeout to get a game-tying field goal attempt in the fourth quarter.
With Eberflus’ departure, the team will now turn to interim head coach to guide them through the final five weeks of the season. The situation is not new, as rookie quarterback Caleb Williams will be the third straight first-round quarterback to play under a different head coach in his second season, following in the footsteps of Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields.