(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Bears have fired Head Coach Matt Eberflus after a six-game losing streak and a 14-32 record since he took over Chicago’s top coaching job in 2022.
The team announced the firing on Friday. Thomas Brown, who stepped up as offensive coordinator after Shane Waldron was fired, will become the Bears' interim head coach.
Eberflus spoke to the media on Friday morning and said he expected to coach the team’s next game against the San Francisco 49ers. After meeting with General Manager Ryan Poles and team President Kevin Warren, though, it was decided that Eberflus would not finish out the season with the Bears.
“This morning, after meeting with George and Kevin, we informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the leadership of our football team and the head coaching position,” Poles said in a statement. “I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization. We extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
Warren voiced his support for the decision and said Bears fans "deserve better results."
Friday’s firing was the first time in history the Bears have fired a head coach in season.
The Bears are 4-8 this year, with five games left to play again.
Thursday continued a trend of Eberflus mismanaging end-of-game situations. After Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked at the Lions’ 41-yard line with 32 seconds remaining, Eberflus didn’t use his final timeout, instead letting the clock tick down. Operating slowly, the Bears managed to get just one more play off, an incompletion on a deep pass as the clock ticked to zeros. The Bears snapped the ball with six seconds left on the game clock.
The rookie Williams chose to change the play at the line of scrimmage as the clock was ticking, explaining he wasn’t comfortable calling the last timeout in the critical situation. Eberflus' hope was for the Bears to snap the ball quickly and pick up a few extra yards, then take the final timeout to set up a game-tying field-goal attempt.
Afterward, Eberflus shared his belief that the Bears “handled it the right way” at the end, which drew scrutiny from outside observers as well as inside the Bears locker room.
“I feel like we did enough as players to win the game,” Bears veteran receiver Keenan Allen said.
“You got to talk to the people who control those things. I hear the play, line up and run the play. I don’t know.”
Eberflus fell to 14-32 overall as the Bears’ head coach, including 5-19 in one-score games – the worst mark of any active head coach in games decided by eight points or fewer.
During the Bears’ six-game losing streak, they’ve lost four games in which they had an opportunity to win in the final minutes of regulation or overtime. Eberflus’ game management decisions have been called into question often during the losing streak.
The team is expected to address the firing on Monday.
670 the Score’s Chris Emma contributed to this report.
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