Bears keep Eberflus, fire OC ahead of key QB call

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears have made the first two decisions in what will be a pivotal offseason, bringing back coach Matt Eberflus for the 2024 season while firing offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

Sources told ESPN that the Bears opted to keep Eberflus after extensive meetings Monday and Tuesday. General manager Ryan Poles said it was his call to retain Eberflus, a decision that was supported by team owner George McCaskey and Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren.

“When you go through hard times and he can keep everyone together, to me, that’s the critical piece,” Poles said of Eberflus. “In a big market like this, you have to be strong. If he’s jumping off the boat and everyone else starts jumping off the boat, it’s a hot mess. So the stability was a big piece of it. The detail that he coaches with. Taking some of the mistakes from the game, bringing them to practice and making sure that we’re doing things the right way, I saw a lot of progress in that.

“There’s a reason why we went from three to seven wins. The player aspect of it is important, but also the detail and bringing the team together. Sticking through those hard times allowed us to push through, and you saw a lot of those wins happening towards the back end of the season. If it’s not for him, I really don’t think that’s the case. I think it starts to crumble, everyone starts to do their own thing. So to me, that was a critical piece in this.”

Eberflus is 10-24 in two seasons with Chicago after spending the previous 13 years as a defensive assistant coach in the NFL, capped by a four-year stretch as the Colts’ defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021.

After taking over defensive playcalling duties upon former defensive coordinator Alan Williams’ abrupt resignation Sept. 20, Eberflus led a unit that went from 32nd to 1st against the run and recorded 22 interceptions, which ties San Francisco for the most in the NFL. The addition of defensive end Montez Sweat at the trade deadline helped Chicago improve its pass rush, which totaled 10 sacks in Weeks 1-8 and finished the season with 30.

Between Sweat and cornerback Jaylon Johnson, the Bears boasted their first Pro Bowl selections since the 2021 season. Poles is confident that Chicago will re-sign Johnson, a pending free agent, this offseason.

“I feel really good about that situation,” Poles said. “Jaylon’s not going to go anywhere, and we’ll work through it to get something done.”

While Chicago’s defense sparked the team’s second-half turnaround, the Bears countered their offensive struggles by making staff changes.

The Bears announced Wednesday afternoon that Getsy and four other offensive assistants — quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, running backs coach Omar Young and assistant tight ends coach Tim Zetts — were fired.

“The growth and the development of the offense, to me, needed to be better than what it was,” Eberflus said. “You look at the passing game, certainly that’s one aspect of it. And that’s where it is. We decided to move on from that. And again, that was my decision, obviously conferring with Ryan and George and Kevin, and we made that decision this morning.”

The moves came three days after the completion of Eberflus and Getsy’s second season with the Bears. The Bears went 7-10 but showed signs of promise down the stretch, winning four of their final six games.

Eberflus did not say whether he would continue to call plays next season. The Bears will begin their search for new offensive and defensive coordinators immediately.

“Both things are highly coveted positions,” Eberflus said. “Our phones have been blowing up with people trying to contact us in different ways and … we’ll go through that process as we go.”

Warren, who spoke after Eberflus’ and Poles’ joint news conference Wednesday, said he had not yet had conversations over a contract extension for the Bears coach. The perception of Eberflus entering a win-now season in 2024 is not something Poles believes will deter candidates from wanting to join the Bears’ coaching staff.

“I think they’re going to look at the roster and see there is a lot of young, talented players on the roster that they really want to work with,” Poles said. “It’s going to elevate that platform and elevate our team to be a championship-caliber team. And when you win championships, there is a lot of really cool things that happen with everybody. So I think they’re going to see that as a good opportunity.”

Poles, when asked whether he had reached out to Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, said he had no contact with Harbaugh or any other head coaches.

The Bears face a monumental decision at quarterback this offseason and whether they will stick with Justin Fields entering his fourth season or use the No. 1 draft pick on a rookie quarterback.

As deliberations on the plan at quarterback begin inside Halas Hall, so do the conversations about the type of offensive identity the Bears want to have in 2024.

“I think you have to have identity, for sure, but you also have to be able to adjust,” Eberflus said. “You have to be able to stand on something. Running the football is one of them and I also think that being adjustable and adaptable is another one. Given the explosives, which I think was referred to there, is how you score points. That’s how you score points, and again we’re going to have to continue to grow that way.”

Player frustrations over the offense showed several times during the 2023 season, beginning in Week 3 when Fields pointed to “coaching” as the reason behind his “robotic” play. Wide receiver DJ Moore also indicated a lack of consistent explosive plays caused Chicago to fall short.

Chicago’s offense ranked 17th in offensive points per game (20.4), which is its highest mark since ranking 11th in 2018, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The passing offense improved from 32nd to 27th (182.1 yards per game) while the Bears owned the NFL’s No. 2 rushing offense (141.1 YPG).

The Bears’ season ended with a 17-9 loss at Green Bay, the second time since Week 12 that Chicago failed to score a touchdown. The offense came away with one touchdown combined in its final three road games and was held to 20 or fewer points in 10 games.

In 17 games, the offense ranked 21st in EPA/play (-0.052), 19th in success rate (41.6%) and 19th in yards per attempt (6.7) and scored 37 touchdowns, which is tied for 20th in the NFL.

Although Moore (1,364) and tight end Cole Kmet (719) both reached career highs in receiving yards, the inconsistencies in the passing game were prominent under Getsy. Fields was tied for 21st with 6.9 yards per attempt, 29th in passing success rate (38.4%), 18th in adjusted completion rate (74.3%) and totaled 20 touchdowns (16 passing, 4 rushing).