Bears Look to Brighter Future with New Hires

After the Chicago Bears finished their disappointing season at 6-11 they fired General Manager, Ryan Pace, and Head Coach Matt Nagy. The prevailing fan sentiment was that both of these firings were overdue. 

After being named coach of the year in 2018, Matt Nagy has disappointed as a head coach ever since. He was not a very experienced offensive play-caller before coming to Chicago, and his play-calling continued to be a problem.  Until this season, however, he had the support of his players.  This year it seemed like he finally lost the locker room as his troubles persisted despite having had years to coach his team. 

As GM, Ryan Pace could find hidden talents in many draft classes, but his poor roster management and talent acquisition during free agency periods couldn’t justify his continued employment. The first step to a good rebuild is to bring in fresh faces into the organization. The Bears have a fresh face in the GM spot, and head coaching position. The common consensus seems that the GM was a good choice, but the head coaching hire is puzzling.

The Bears officially hired General Manager Ryan Poles on January 25 after an extensive 13-day search. He was the Kansas City Chiefs director of player personnel before making the move to GM. Ryan Poles has been around the Kansas City front office since 2009. Ryan Poles has been a great scout for the Chiefs even helping them draft Patrick Mahomes. Many other teams like the Vikings had Ryan poles as a finalist for their GM position, but the Bears offered him a deal fast. After not becoming a GM the last couple of years Ryan Poles took time during the year to evaluate how he would build the Chiefs team to try and get ready for an opportunity he knew would come. Poles has already been busy, first hiring a head coach as well as coordinators, positional coaches, and assistants. 

Matt Eberflus was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears only two days after Ryan Poles was selected as GM. He was the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts and he has been praised by many for his leadership. Matt Eberflus is well-respected by many former players who have played for him. Coaches have praised him for how he can work with players. The Bears loved his interview and his attitude about pushing the team to be the fittest in the league. However his hiring is still very confusing. 

The Bears, especially Ryan Poles, saw something they liked in Eberflus. It was most likely his leadership ability because his offensive prowess is lacking. The Bears wanted a guy who could lead this team to the future and didn’t care much about his offensive abilities. However, I think they could have selected a coach with both, or at least a coach who has more experience. 

We don’t know how Eberflus will take to being a new head coach. The last time the Bears hired a guy who didn’t have experience as a head coach, they chose Matt Nagy. 

Dan Quinn was the head coach of the Falcons, and while he has never been an offensive-oriented coach, we know he has the experience and we know that his leadership abilities were good enough to get to the Super Bowl. Jim Caldwell has more experience than anyone else who was considered and has a track record of helping young quarterbacks succeed. Brian Daboll was the former Bills offensive coordinator who helped unleash the potential in Josh Allen. He could have been a great hire for the Bears, but they barely looked at him.  While there were other candidates besides those three, Jim Caldwell, Dan Quinn, or Brian Daboll would have made more sense as the Bears head coach instead of Eberflus.

Maybe this reporter has it all wrong, but only time will tell.