Yahoo Sports Bears fire Matt Eberflus: Everything we know
The Chicago Bears did something they've never done in their 105-year history: they fired a head coach midseason. The Bears parted ways with Matt Eberflus on Friday, which came one day after a disastrous ending to a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving in front of the entire football world.
With Eberflus gone, it'll be offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, who was just promoted to OC three weeks ago, assuming the interim head coach duties. It'll serve as a five-game audition for Brown as Chicago now has a vacancy at head coach.
There was plenty of news from Eberflus' firing, and we've rounded up all of our coverage from Friday's big day.
Matt Eberflus fired after three seasons
Eberflus is 14-32 in three seasons. That includes a 5-20 in one-score games, which was his downfall due to game and clock mismanagement. Eberflus has the (third) worst winning percentage (.304) in franchise history ahead of only John Fox (.292) and Abe Gibron (.274).
Eberflus' in-season firing comes after a six-game losing streak of embarrassing losses, including Thanksgiving's 23-20 defeat to the Detroit Lions, where Eberflus' clock mismanagement led to another one-score loss after he failed to use the team's one remaining timeout and time ran out.
NFL world reacts to the Bears firing Matt Eberflus
This is the first time in franchise history that the Bears let go of a head coach during the middle of the season, but the situation became untenable, and the franchise needed to make a change. Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, who was promoted from the passing game coordinator just a few weeks ago, will serve as the interim head coach.
This is a day many Bears fans have been waiting for ever since the Washington Commanders game when the Bears lost on a Hail Mary. It's safe to say many of them approve of the decision, though it's fair to wonder why the Bears made Eberflus meet with the media, only to fire him a couple of hours later. Here were some of the reactions on social media.
Bears release statement after firing Matt Eberflus
Shortly after the firing was reported by multiple insiders, the Bears released a statement on the team website from general manager Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren.
"This morning, after meeting with George [McCaskey] and Kevin [Warren], we informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the leadership of our football team and the head-coaching position," Poles said. "I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization. We extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward."
Bears fire Matt Eberflus: Top head coach candidates to replace him
The decision to fire Eberflus marks the first time in franchise history that the Bears have parted ways with a head coach in the middle of the season. Following the announcement of his departure, it was also announced that Thomas Brown has been named interim head coach, just three games after being named the team's offensive coordinator. With Brown closing out the season as the man in charge for Chicago, who could the franchise target as the head coach for 2025?
Why Matt Eberflus spoke to media before Bears fired him
The fact that Eberflus found a way to lose a game didn't come as a surprise. But the biggest surprise was that Eberflus met with the media for his regular-scheduled press conference on Friday morning just hours before the Bears fired him. It was a bad look for an organization that has been a staple of ineptitude for decades. While Eberflus wasn't a good head coach, he didn't deserve to go handle a slew of questions about his job security and poor coaching while knowing he wouldn't survive the day. But it sounds like we finally have an explanation as to why.
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Eberflus met with the media because there was an ongoing meeting between CEO George McCaskey, president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles that lasted multiple hours and overlapped with Eberflus' press conference.
Why firing Matt Eberflus midseason was right decision for Bears
After a sixth consecutive loss, the last three of which came by three points or less to divisional opponents, the Bears announced on Friday that Eberflus has been fired as head coach. Recently appointed offensive coordinator Thomas Brown has received his second promotion this year, being named the interim head coach.
The writing was on the wall for Eberflus, who made history in all the wrong ways in the 2024 season, which is the most unfortunate part of it all. Coming into the season featured on "Hard Knocks" for the first time ever, bringing in Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, and D'Andre Swift to compliment top pick quarterback Caleb Williams, the Bears had sky-high expectations and fell flat on their face.
Matt Eberflus fired: Every Bears head coach's all-time record
Eberflus is arguably the worst coach in Bears franchise history, which says a lot considering other coaches who have held the position. But Eberflus' game mismanagement, lack of accountability and inability to pull out close games marred his three-year tenure.
With that in mind, we're taking a look at every Bears head coach's all-time record, starting with Eberflus and ending with George Halas.
Bears repeat history with rookie QB, failed HC pairing
With Eberflus' firing, this marks the third time in the past decade that the Bears have fired a head coach the same year in which they have spent a first round pick on a quarterback.
In 2017, it was Mitchell Trubisky drafted with the second overall pick, while John Fox was the coach who was fired at the end of the season. In 2021, Justin Fields was picked 11th overall, and Matt Nagy was fired after a 6-11 record. Now in 2024, history repeats itself for the third time in seven years, with Caleb Williams, the first overall pick, sees his coach, Eberflus, get let go before his rookie campaign even ends.
Did Jaquan Brisker shade Matt Eberflus after firing?
With many reactions coming in from all around NFL circles there may be no more damning response than what could have come from one specific key Bears player. Young and highly-regarded safety Jaquan Brisker, who has been out of action since Week 5 with a concussion and has now landed him on injured reserve, had an interesting tweet following the news.
Purely speculative, but it feels as if Brisker had an immediate reaction to Eberflus being relieved of his head coaching role. "God don't make mistakes," Brisker wrote.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears fire Matt Eberflus: Everything we know
