Former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus’ fate was sealed in the disastrous final 32 seconds of the team’s loss to the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day.
Yet many fans and NFL insiders alike questioned why the Bears would let Eberflus conduct his regularly scheduled media session Friday morning, before the team announced his termination a short time later. NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported Friday that chairman George McCaskey, CEO Kevin Warren and GM Ryan Poles made the decision to fire Eberflus in a meeting held during that press conference.
Yet some still wondered if the ill-fated coach said something to reporters that morning that led to his termination. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reported that media session had “zero” impact on Eberflus’ fate.
Cronin wrote, “As the Chicago brass deliberated, Eberflus went on with his normal media availability. He had caught heat for saying after the game that things were handled “the right way” in the final sequence, and he doubled down Friday, explaining why he believed that.”
Cronin said a team source told her, “His news conference had ‘zero’ to do with his firing.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio acknowledged Cronin’s report, but had a different perception of Eberflus’ press conference.
“The reality is that,” Florio wrote, “while Eberflus likely said nothing to cook a goose that wasn’t already fully cooked, he possibly could have said something to persuade someone in the meeting … to give him another chance. It would have taken a lot. It might have been damn near impossible.
Then Florio reconsidered.
“No, the Thanksgiving fiasco sealed Eberflus’s fate. The press conference changed nothing,” he wrote.
Still, it’s hard to fathom why the team would allow Eberflus to meet reporters when such a decision seemed imminent. Even Warren admitted the team should have handled the situation better.
[ESPN]
