Chicago Bears fire Matt Eberflus midseason

The Chicago Bears have decided to begin a new era.

In a losing season that followed an offseason of promise, which included a roster overhaul, the Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus before his third season concluded, the team announced Friday.

His final game was a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

This marks a sharp turn in Chicago Bears franchise history. The Bears have never fired a coach mid-season before. 

"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," Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles said in a statement. "I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization." 

Now, they are committed to a change in leadership well before they can officially hire their next head coach.

The Bears will go forward with interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown as the team's interim head coach, which could very well serve as a five-week audition for Brown to be the Bears' next head coach.

The Matt Eberflus era ends with a whimper following the loss to Detroit, but it's hard to pinpoint when the Eberflus era ever hit a high point. 

In his Bears tenure, Eberflus never made the playoffs, never had a winning season and never beat the Green Bay Packers. Bears general manager Ryan Poles famously said the Bears will "Take the North and never give it back." Eberflus' first NFC North win came on Nov. 27, 2023.

Hired as a defensive guru with an attention to detail that stressed fundamentals at the beginning of a full-on rebuild, Eberflus brought his HITS principle – Hustle, Intensity, Takeaways and (playing) Smart – to Chicago, Eberflus was tasked with reinvigorating a Bears defense that had lost its edge. The Bears rose to the status of a top-10 defense in 2023, but never regained that form in 2024.

There were also off-the-field issues that loomed over the Bears, such as the eight different coaches Eberflus fired from the time he took over as head coach until when he fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron in November 2024, just 11 months after he hired Waldron to replace offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

Eberflus' eight firings also included defensive coordinator Alan Williams, who ESPN reported was fired for inappropriate activity, and running backs coach David Walker, who ESPN reported was fired due to workplace misconduct.

"I support Ryan and the decision that was made this morning. We understand how imperative the head coaching role is for building and maintaining a championship-caliber team, leading our players and our organization. Our fans have stood by us and persevered through every challenge, and they deserve better results," Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said in a written statement. "Our organizational and operational structure is strong, focused, aligned and energized for the future," 

On the field, Eberflus' biggest indictment was his records in multiple areas.

After losing to Detroit on Thursday, Eberflus owned a 5-19 record in one-score games. He was also winless in true road games on Sunday. He only won two games against NFC North teams.

That loss on Thursday included an end-of-game sequence that cemented his fate.

With 42 seconds remaining, in Detroit Lions territory with the chance to at least tie the game with a field goal, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked on second down.

At the end of the second-down play, there were 36 seconds left in the game. Before the third-down play was snapped, Eberflus allowed the game clock to bleed past 10 seconds.

With a timeout in his pocket, the Bears tried to get a play call in and get into field goal range. Eberflus elected not to take the timeout, even when it was clear the Bears were not going to get a snap off with enough time to conduct a play and leave some time left on the game clock for a potential game-tying field goal.

Instead, the clock ran. Williams could only try for a desperation heave that fell incomplete. Had Eberflus used his timeout, it's fair to assume the Bears would have at least had a chance at a tying kick.

That sequence was Eberflus' last on the Bears' sidelines as its head coach.

He finishes his tenure in Chicago with a 14-32 record overall, with a 4-8 record in 2024. He was, at one point, coaching a 4-2 team heading into the Bears' bye week.

The unraveling began with a botched defense on a Hail Mary that allowed Washington to steal a last-minute win. That was the first of a six-game losing streak that included:

• A blocked game-tying field goal in a loss to Green Bay
• An overtime loss to Minnesota where the defense collapsed
• Losses to New England and Arizona where the offense bottomed out and the defense struggled
• Thursday's botched sequence to end the game against Detroit.

That three-game stretch was the tipping point for the Bears franchise to end an era of Bears' football that could never bring any major highs to Halas Hall.

That stretch coerced ownership and leadership decided to do something it has never done before.

"We extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward," said Poles.