One of the main reasons why Matt Nagy was fired after the 2021 season was his inability to get the most out of quarterback Justin Fields. Or the belief that Nagy wasn’t the one to develop Fields moving forward.
Enter new head coach Matt Eberflus — same first name, different offensive philosophy. While Eberflus is a defensive-minded head coach, his approach to building the offense around Fields is already way more than Nagy ever did for his rookie quarterback.
Eberflus’ philosophy on offense is simple: Attack the defense where it hurts most — with Fields leading the charge.
“I want an offense that’s going to be attacking, that stretches the defense horizontally and vertically, and I want them to be willing to have the ability to punch the defense right where it counts and to be able to move the ball down the field,” he told SI’s Albert Breer. “I want the attitude and the style to be right. Are we going to talk about route concepts that hurt defenses, and run schemes that hurt the defense? Yeah, that’s important. But the way in which you play is more important, and that’s what I want in the offense.”
Eberflus is off to a fantastic start with the assembly of his coaching staff. It started with the hiring of offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who Eberflus is entrusting to develop and build an offense around Fields and do something that hasn’t been done in ages — get production out of the offense. It continued with the addition of quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, who’s going to be working closely with Fields.
On his day on the job, Eberflus spent an hour and a half with Fields, according to Breer. Eberflus quickly saw Fields’ desire to become the best player he can be.
While there’s been some outcry about the fact that the Bears hired a defensive-minded head coach to pair with Fields, there’s an added benefit to having someone like Eberflus. And that’s getting a better understanding of how to best attack a defense.
“I just see a guy that’s ready to develop. He’s so ready to develop and wants to be sponge,” said Eberflus. “We’ve talked about giving him an education on the defensive side in terms of coverages as well as the offensive side in terms of schemes. He’s ready to develop and excited to get going. Certainly, he has the skill set to move the ball with his legs, and we’re also looking at the concept of him being able to get the ball out of his hands, take what the defense gives you, and not only the underneath throws, but also the deep throw.”
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