Following the disaster that was the end of their Thanksgiving Day loss to the Detroit Lions, many figured it was only a matter of time until the Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Ebeflus.
But come Friday, the 54-year-old Toledo native was fielding questions from reporters via Zoom, as is customary for NFL head coaches the day after nationally televised games. That Eberflus was taking part in his Friday press conference seemingly indicated his job was safe for now — both to the reporters asking him the questions and the head coach, himself.
“I’m confident that I’ll be working on San Francisco and getting ready for that game,” Eberflus said.
When asked about his job status by @CourtneyRCronin, Matt Eberflus said:
“I’m confident I’ll be working to San Francisco and coaching that game.”
— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr23) November 29, 2024
Say what you will about Ebeflus, but it seemed like a safe assumption to make. After all, why would an NFL team allow a head coach to represent it to the media if it knew it would be firing him soon thereafter?
Then again, these are the Chicago Bears.
Approximately two hours after Eberflus addressed the press — and once again attempted to defend his disastrous clock management — the Bears fired the third-year head coach. The decision only came as a surprise to some because Eberflus had participated in his Friday press conference, but also not a total surprise because, again, these are the Bears.
The fact that Eberflus did two different media sessions (postgame and this AM)…and then was fired… is particularly unique.
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) November 29, 2024
The Bears are such a wreck that they let Eberflus do his day-after press conference then fired him an hour or so later.
— Zac Jackson (@AkronJackson) November 29, 2024
Pretty cruel to force Eberflus to do that presser right before firing him. That’s just really bad management all around. They didn’t just decide to make this decision this morning, so holding him in limbo like that is really stupid.
— Honest NFL (@TheHonestNFL) November 29, 2024
Wow. The #Bears let Eberflus do a press conference today and then fired him. What a completely messed-up organization.
— Rick Morrissey (@MorrisseyCST) November 29, 2024
As for why the Bears would have waited until after Eberflus’ press conference to fire him, only a couple of possible explanations exist and none of them make Chicago look great. Maybe something transpired after — or during — the press conference that led to the Bears making the final decision on their head coach’s fate. Or perhaps ownership was unaware of his scheduled Friday availability (although even that seems far-fetched).
The likeliest explanation, however, is merely that this is an organization where dysfunction has often been the default setting, and much like Eberflus on Thursday, the Bears were caught flat-footed. So while Eberflus’ firing may have been justified, there’s also plenty of evidence to suggest that Chicago’s problems extend well beyond whoever’s not calling timeouts from its sideline.
