We now have a stronger sense of Friday’s timeline that resulted in the Chicago Bears firing head coach Matt Eberflus.
Given the complete debacle at the end of the Thanksgiving Day loss to the Detroit Lions and how a once-promising season has completely gotten away from them, the Bears firing Eberflus was easy to understand. But firing him shortly after he finished talking to the media on Friday was — to say the least — unusual. So, what gives?
According to Tom Pelissero, the Bears’ decision to fire Ebersflus came at a meeting that started at roughly the same time as Eberflus’ meeting with the media.
“My understanding is George McCaskey, Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles had just begun a meeting that lasted multiple hours when Eberflus’ regularly scheduled press conference started,” Pelissero reported on Friday. “A delay would’ve pointed towards a change that at that point hadn’t been decided. By the time the decision was finalized, the presser was long over and Eberflus was informed. Now the Bears’ brain trust has a five-week jumpstart on a search to fill what should be a coveted job.”
One lingering question from today’s bombshell in Chicago: Why did the #Bears have Matt Eberflus speak to the media hours before firing him?
My understanding is George McCaskey, Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles had just begun a meeting that lasted multiple hours when Eberflus’… pic.twitter.com/8skHGxQw5B
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 29, 2024
If a team’s top executives are holding a meeting that could result in the head coach being fired, postponing said head coach’s simultaneous media session would seem to be a no-brainer. The timing of this suggests that the decision might have been made as a result of what happened against the Lions — which, on its own, was deemed a fireable offense — rather than having that be the final straw. Or, at the very least, it’s unlikely that the Bears went into that game with a strong inclination that it would be Eberflus’ last as head coach.
[Tom Pelissero on X]
