Update: Matt Eberflus was fired shortly after this press conference. He becomes the first head coach the Bears have fired midseason.
To understand why the Chicago Bears even let head coach Matt Eberflus back into Halas Hall on Friday after yet another innovation in brutal losses on Thursday, you need to remember this is a franchise that prides itself on the wrong things.
To wit: The Bears have never fired a head coach midseason.
That might be hard to believe considering the franchise has employed seven head coaches since Mike Ditka’s decade of dominance along the lakefront ended in 1992. Yet neither Marc Trestman nor John Fox nor Matt Nagy forced Chicago to change its ways.
Which is why — after a slight delay gave some Bears fans false hope — Eberflus was back at the podium for his Friday press conference with his focus turned to Week 14’s trip to San Francisco.
Eberflus said he's "confident" he'll be getting ready for the 49ers game, but wouldn't answer if he's had confirmation from above. He just said everything has been normal this morning.
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) November 29, 2024
Matt Eberflus said he met with Bears management following yesterday's game and will meet with them again later today: "I'm confident that I'll be working on San Francisco and getting ready for that game."
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) November 29, 2024
Eberflus told reporters he had already met with the Bears’ front office following the timeout debacle at the end of Thursday’s 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions and was confident they’ll be working on a game plan for the 49ers when they meet again later Friday afternoon.
Considering the Bears already fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron nine games into his tenure with team, and are starting a rookie quarterback in Caleb Williams, there are few scapegoats left for a seemingly impossible six-game losing streak that began with the Hail Mary disaster in Washington.
When you’re as stuck in the mud as the Bears are organizationally, finding a point of pride sure isn’t easy, but a reluctance to fire a head coach midseason might not be the boast the franchise thinks it is.
