Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Robert Zeglinski

Matt Eberflus’ initial plan for fired Bears OC Shane Waldron shows why he still really needs to go

After an alarming three-game losing streak, the crumbling Chicago Bears had to do something like fire now-former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Maintaining the status quo would’ve only deepened the Bears’ malaise.

But let’s not beat around the bush.

Until further notice, head coach Matt Eberflus still has to go, too.

Right now. Not in a week. Not sometime next month. Not the likely day after the 2024 season because the Bears have strangely never fired a coach midseason. Right. Now.

Beyond the mountain of evidence we already have that Eberflus isn’t fit to coach a professional football team, he somehow gave us another telling display of incompetence while firing his first official scapegoat. If left to his devices, it’s apparent he’ll only do more damage to a team that has seemingly already quit on him.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Eberflus’ initial plan to change things up in Chicago was simply moving Waldron’s place up to the booth during Bears games. (He stayed on the sideline during the action.) Ah, yes, letting Waldron see more of the field from a bird eye’s view while still calling broken plays with no sense or rhythm would be the ticket.

That was his “big” change, dearest readers.

My goodness. Eberflus could not be more in over his head:

It’s unclear what happened to change Eberflus’ mind before eventually firing Waldron. During staff meetings, someone perhaps might have been in his ear before switching to the right decision. But the mere fact that Eberflus still initially wanted the same person running an irreparable offensive scheme from another place in stadiums shows exactly why he should no longer be the Bears’ coach.

Don’t be surprised when Eberflus gets eight more weeks from one of the NFL’s most dysfunctional organizations anyway.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.