The Bears finally fired Matt Eberflus. But he lost the locker room long ago

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The Bears finally fired Matt Eberflus. But he lost the locker room long ago

Another crushing, confounding loss for the Chicago Bears meant another postgame speech about “sticking together” from head coach Matt Eberflus in front of a frustrated, crowded locker room at Ford Field in Detroit.

This time, though, team captain Jaylon Johnson wasn’t having it.

Not after another winnable game slipped away — a 23-20 loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving.

Not after another day of highly questionable coaching decisions.

This postgame message required a different tone, a different vibe, and probably a different voice. Like a lot of Bears players, Johnson had had enough. ***** of finding new ways to give games away, they wanted accountability and answers.

“Jaylon went crazy,” one Bears player said. “He was very emotional and ******* but rightfully so. He’s been here longer than most.”

Said another player: “He was going off more so at (Eberflus).”

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According to multiple players and staffers in the locker room, some players were asking why Eberflus didn’t call a timeout. Other players got going, too.

“Guys were furious,” a staff member said. “It was an accumulation of this season.”

“The locker room was ugly,” another staffer said. “There was a lot of yelling.”

Said the first player: “We felt as players it’s been too many instances where we fought our way back into games to lose because of bad time management and decision-making.”

Multiple sources added that the emotions were so high between the players and their head coach that Eberflus left the locker room immediately after his speech and the exchange with players. There was nothing left to say. It was a moment for this Bears team that would inevitably force chairman George McCaskey into something the franchise had never done before.

By Friday morning, Eberflus was out — but not before the team decided to have him address the media over Zoom just after 9 a.m. Two hours later, he was gone. The Bears made it official by sharing statements from general manager Ryan Poles and president/CEO Kevin Warren.

A team source explained that McCaskey, Poles and Warren were still meeting during the scheduled news conference. At that point, no decision had been made about Eberflus’ future so there was no reason to delay the presser, which might have signaled something big was happening. By the time the decision to ***** Eberflus was made, the news conference was over.

With two years remaining on a five-year contract, Eberflus became the first head coach ever fired by the Bears during a season. While Eberflus was liked by some in the building, his records in one-score games (5-19, the NFL’s worst record during his tenure) and in NFC North matchups (2-13) were abysmal. His decision to hire Shane Waldron to be quarterback Caleb Williams’ first offensive coordinator in the NFL transformed into a dysfunctional debacle in a matter of weeks. And his clock management and situational football awareness were even worse.

Unfortunately for the Bears, what happened in the final 32 seconds in Detroit wasn’t the first time that Eberflus’ decision-making left those at Halas Hall or watching from home wondering if he was equipped for the job.

The unraveling began weeks earlier during the team’s disastrous loss to the Washington Commanders. In that game, the defense gave up a Hail Mary touchdown in the closing seconds. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson missed his assignment completely, tipping the ball into the hands of Noah Brown for the game-winning touchdown. To make matters worse, Stevenson was caught interacting with fans moments before the play. Eberflus told Stevenson days later that he wouldn’t start against the Arizona Cardinals. Upset with the news, Stevenson briefly left practice to calm himself before returning.

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Players accepted that, but what didn’t sit well with some team leaders was Eberflus avoiding accountability for his own coaching errors. Players pointed to the play before the Hail Mary. Eberflus allowed Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels to complete a 13-yard pass on the penultimate play and then didn’t call a timeout before the Hail Mary to discuss his defense and calm emotions.

When he was asked about it by reporters, Eberflus downplayed the importance of Daniels’ 13-yard completion to receiver Terry McLaurin and even doubled down on his decision, which many believe was among the mistakes.

“That didn’t sit well in the locker room,” a player said.

“It didn’t go over right,” the second player said. “That week is when he lost the defensive guys.”

As the Bears’ losing streak expanded, there was a shift in tone and messaging from Eberflus when discussing the team’s latest problems. He seemed to go out of his way to take the blame for nearly everything. His subsequent attempts to take accountability felt insincere to the players.

By then, it was too little, too late. The damage was done in Washington and in the days that followed.

Eberflus never led his team through that loss.

“As a leader of men,” one of the Bears players said, “you’re supposed to take blame for everything that happens under your watch.”

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The first signal that the Bears were going to function differently during this season was the ******* of Waldron on Nov. 12, which came two days after losing 19-3 to the New England Patriots and just nine games into his tenure as offensive coordinator.

For the Bears, it was a break from the past. The team had never fired an offensive coordinator during the season, either.

Players’ frustrations with Waldron had been bubbling since the summer. The new offensive coordinator changed the Bears’ run game, scrapping two years of progress under offensive line coach Chris Morgan. His decision to install a pure progression passing system — a challenging scheme even for veteran QBs — further complicated things for Williams. Players voiced concerns to their head coach at various times but rarely felt heard.

Bears players believe offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, left, was a poor choice to develop rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

Receiver Keenan Allen told reporters at Halas Hall after Waldron’s ******* that Waldron was “too nice of a guy,” a sentiment that other players shared. “He just didn’t demand things properly,” one player said. That included how Waldron handled coaching Williams.

After the loss to the Patriots, meetings at Halas Hall grew tense. Some team leaders even floated the idea of benching Williams in favor of backup Tyson Bagent, believing Waldron’s system was hurting the rookie’s growth. Two days later, Waldron was fired. A team source said Warren wanted changes.

Eberflus considered keeping Waldron on the staff, but it didn’t happen.

“Where they messed up was with Shane and making him the coordinator to begin with,” the player said.

Thomas Brown, then the team’s passing game coordinator, was named offensive coordinator and provided an instant jolt for everyone involved in the offense. Even assistant coaches hired by Waldron quickly got on board with Brown. His communication style and leadership skills earned the respect of players and staff.

“There’s been a little bit better communication clearly from the top down as far as what we’re trying to get accomplished,” wide receivers coach Chris Beatty told The Athletic in an interview before Thanksgiving.  “I think there’s been expanded roles for everybody. That’s allowed some guys to be able to interject with some new ideas and different ways of doing some things.”

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With Brown in charge, the pure progression passing scheme was kept, but different concepts and plays were added to get the ball out of Williams’ hand more quickly. The Bears turned to tighter formations and more motions.

“Instead of doing pure progressions all the time and going full-field reads, we kind of changed some of those thoughts to make it 1-to-2 (reads) to use your legs,” Beatty said. “And so those things are showing up.”

The biggest change discussed among players is Brown’s leadership presence, something the Bears had been missing. One player suggested that the way Brown is during his news conferences is just a glimpse into how he functions behind the scenes. The Bears are bought in.

“He’s in charge — and he’s done a great job of being in charge,” Beatty said. “We were lacking some of that at the beginning (on offense). So I think those things have shown up. It’s a … clearer line of communication as opposed to how it was.”

In an 18-day span, Brown was promoted from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator to, now, interim head coach. The Bears now face the challenge of finding stability in a season defined by change. Early signs have been promising, but his ability to galvanize the locker room while leading Williams’ development will be closely monitored by Poles and Warren. He’ll continue calling plays, too.

“He’s just a direct person — direct, honest,” quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph told The Athletic before the Lions game. “He knows what he wants to get across and is confident about it. And he’s Thomas. That’s the thing you love about him being around him. Caleb’s been good. That relationship has been good and (they’re) just kind of growing in it.

“To be elite, there’s a certain way to do things and he knows that. That’s what Thomas brings. There’s a certain way to do it — and it’s the right way to do it. And that’s the way we’re going to do it. When you say ‘direct,’ that’s what it is. It’s authentic. It’s honest and he understands what it takes to be elite as a player, as a team.”

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The next five weeks can be viewed as an elongated interview for Brown. Williams could be an essential part of what’s next for the Bears, but now Brown must prove he can relate to everyone on the roster and not cost his team games.

For a team desperate for accountability and clear direction, Brown might be the leader they’ve been searching for.

“There’s an authenticity about him that’s infectious and everybody responds to it,” tight ends coach Jim Dray said in an interview with The Athletic before Thanksgiving. “Very clear, very concise, very measured on what it is expected — and he holds everybody accountable.”

(Top photo: Brooke Sutton / Getty Images)

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