Not long after he accepted the Bears’ head coaching job Thursday morning, Matt Eberflus called his mentor Gary Pinkel, the former Missouri coach. On the most important day of his professional life, Eberflus told Pinkel how much he meant to him.
It reminded Pinkel of the conversations he used to have with the coach who changed his own life, late Washington legend Don James. When he made the College Football Hall of Fame earlier this month, Pinkel called James’ widow and was so emotional that she had to be the one to comfort him.
