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Courtney Cronin, ESPN writer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Three days after the Chicago Bears changed course as head coach by firing Matt Eberflus following a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions, the organization decided to retain the rest of its football leadership going forward.
Ryan Poles will remain general manager of the Bears, team president and CEO Kevin Warren said during a news conference Monday. The Poles will serve as a “point person” and lead the team’s search for its next head coach, according to Warren.
“Ryan is young. He’s talented. He’s bright. He’s a hard worker,” Warren said. “He’s done everything in his power on a daily basis to bring a winner to Chicago. And I have confidence in Ryan. My faith remains strong in Ryan.”
Poles said the Bears have not decided whether they will use a search firm to find their next head coach, which would be the 17th in the franchise’s 105-year history. Warren confirmed that the Poles will have the final say on who is hired.
The Poles and Eberflus were hired together in January 2022 when they replaced former general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy. The Bears embarked on a massive rebuild that began with a roster dismantling before a 3-14 season in 2022 followed by a 7-10 finish in 2023.
After using the first overall pick to select quarterback Caleb Williams in April, the Bears were poised to take a step forward in 2024, which began with a 4-2 start. Since then, Chicago has lost six straight games, four of which were decided by one score.
“I want to thank Coach Eberflus for his efforts and dedication while he was here, but at the end of the day, we came up short too many times and had to make a change,” Poles said. “Reflecting two years ago, I was proud of the progress we made from Year 1 to Year 2, but disappointed that we were not able to maintain that course in Year 3.”
Poles said they saw “frustration” in the Bears locker room after the loss to the Lions, which led to Eberflus’ departure last Friday. About two and a half hours after Eberflus made his usual media availability virtually the next day, Bears brass informed the 54-year-old coach that he was being fired.
That sequence of events led to widespread criticism of how the Bears handled Eberflus’ firing, which Warren said had not been decided when the former head coach had his press conference around 9 a.m. CT.
“In retrospect, could we have done better? Absolutely, and I’ll be the first to raise my hand, yes,” Warren said. “But during his press conference and even a couple of hours later, we hadn’t made a decision.
“But on the other hand, something that was important to us is that once we made a decision, we wanted to make sure we talked to Matt about it so that he could have the respect of being able to call his family. And I will say this, one thing that happened, this is the first time, and it happens a lot in the league where a head coach finds out that he’s been fired and he finds out before the organization tells him, and that’s something we promised we weren’t going to do. do.”
Bears offensive coordinator Thomas Brown was promoted to interim head coach following Eberflus’ departure. Brown, 38, will now coach on the bench while continuing to call plays. Wide receivers coach Chris Beatty has been promoted to offensive coordinator, while defensive coordinator Eric Washington will take over play-calling duties previously handled by Eberflus.
Brown took responsibility for his role in the handful of late miscues that have plagued Chicago in four final-play losses (Washington, Green Bay, Minnesota and Detroit), including the disastrous sequence against the Lions with 32 seconds left. . left which ultimately led to time running out on Chicago’s attempt to come back.
“I know there was a lot of scrutiny and conversation and dialogue about what happened at the end of some of these games,” Brown said. “I am not exempt from responsibility in those actions, because we are a team. I believe in doing things together. We are rewarded together; we are also criticized together.”
The Bears have a five-game sample to evaluate Brown as a head coaching candidate, beginning in Week 14, when Chicago faces San Francisco on the road. Maintaining continuity around Williams is something Poles said the Bears should consider when deciding how they will choose their next head coach.
“[Williams’] “Development is critical, so we need to make sure there is alignment in that space so it can continue to improve,” Poles said.
Does that mean the 23-year-old quarterback will have a hand in who Chicago chooses to permanently replace Eberflus?
“I don’t know what specific input, but it has to be a big part of the interview process to make sure there’s a plan for a young quarterback in this league,” Poles said.
