It wasn’t a good day for the Chicago Bears on Wednesday, as head coach Matt Eberflus explained, after the team lost a second assistant coach in the middle of the 2023 season.
Running backs coach David Walker was fired as a result of workplace misconduct, and Eberflus was met with a flood of questions about the firing for a majority of his 11-minute press conference.
“It’s disappointing from my vantage point,” Eberflus said. “But we have a standard to uphold to, and when that standard is not met, we act and we act accordingly, and that’s what we did today.”
Eberflus said the decision to let Walker go was made in conjunction with general manager Ryan Poles and president/CEO Kevin Warren.
“I would say the responsibility is there because I’m the head football coach,” Eberflus said. “I would also say that the standard has to be met, right? And when it’s not met, you make a decision. We did that.”
Walker’s firing comes six weeks after defensive coordinator Alan Williams suddenly resigned ahead of the team’s Week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. His official statement said he stepped back to “take care of my health and family.” But the Chicago Sun-Times later revealed Williams was dismissed due to conduct at Halas Hall.
Between the two in-season coaching departures, a franchise-worst 14-game losing streak, Justin Fields sidelined with a dislocated right thumb and the Chase Claypool trade drama, it’s been a disastrous first half in 2023.
Still, Eberflus boldly proclaimed the Bears have an “outstanding” culture in place.
“The guys work hard every single day,” he said. “The relationship piece is there. We care about each other. We’re working diligently to get this thing turned. We’re 2-2 in our last four. One game was real close, we had a chance at that one. We really feel we’re turning the corner there, and we are excited about this week. But to answer your question, our culture is awesome.”
Those two wins — the only of the season — came against a Commanders team that just cleared house, including sending defensive end Montez Sweat to Chicago, and a Raiders team that just fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.
As for who will replace Walker, Eberflus said wide receiver assistant Omar Young will take over as running backs coach.
