The Chicago Bears Will Eventually Fire Matt Eberflus...Right?
Here, in no particular order, are 10 potential replacements for Chicago's historically inept head coach.
Editor’s Note: This article originally ran on October 30, 2024. Since then, the Chicago Bears have posted a record of 0-5, and each of those losses were marred by blunders both big and small, courtesy of one Matthew Charles Eberflus.
As of this writing, Eberflus is inexplicably still employed by the Bears (dude’s record with the team is 14-34, so we can all agree this experiment has been an unmitigated failure), but his dismissal is inevitable. Finding an interim coach outside of the organization — a coach who would be willing to take command of a wobbly, injury-riddled roster that’s poised to face the NFL’s most difficult remaining schedule — would both difficult and foolish.
The most logical and realistic approach would be to hand over the reins to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, defensive coordinator Eric Washington, or some unlucky soul already in the building. Then, after the the 2024 regular season comes to a merciful end, then can hire one of the ten below HC candidates:
O, WHERE ART THOU, Ben Johnson? Where art thou?
I can actually tell you exactly where Ben art right now: The Meijer Performance Center, 222 Republic Drive, Allen Park, Michigan.
I can also tell you where Johnson art not: Halas Hall, 1920 Football Drive, Lake Forest, Illinois.
And it didn’t have to be that way.
Yesterday we learned that last summer, the Bears had an opportunity to replace their underachieving, overmatched Head Coach Matt Eberflus with one of the game’s top offensive minds:
As we can tell by their Johnson-less coaching room, Chicago chose to stick with Eberflus, a guy whose record as a Head Coach was, at that point, 10-24; even more damning, Flus had yet to accomplish anything during his two-year tenure that gave the impression he had the skill set to lead a franchise to a Super Bowl. Sure, he helped the defense take a leap, but all that did was confirm everything Bears fans feared at his hire: Solid D-Coordinator, below-average HC.
After a series of boneheaded decisions in last Sunday’s nightmare loss in Washington — a.k.a., the Hail Jayden Game — and after massively pooping the bed with his Offensive Coordinator hire (Shane Waldron, gross) it’s apparent to everybody on the planet other than the dudes who sign his paycheck that Eberflus doesn’t have the wherewithal or creativity to ever bring a Lombardi Trophy to Halas Hall.
If the Bears braintrust did indeed have a shot at Ben Johnson and took a pass, man, what an indictment of their ability to talent hunt. One hopes that at some point, somebody somewhere in the Chicago front office will come to their senses, completely clean house (peace out, Ryan Poles), and let the new GM hire a new head-man.
One hopes.
If the team wants to launch their coaching hunt in high style, they’re more than welcome to start with this in-no-particular-order cheat sheet:
BOBBY SLOWIK
Current Gig: Houston Texans Offensive Coordinator
Resume: Wide receiver at Michigan Tech University…Held multiple coaching positions with the San Francisco 49ers between 2017-2022…Hired by the Texans in 2023, where he played a role in the development a certain epic rookie quarterback.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: One word and two letters: Stroud, C.J. We don’t know exactly how much hands-on work Slowik did with the Texans’ star sophomore signal-caller, but we do know that Stroud is awfully good at quarterbacking. Maybe the 37-year-old comes to the table with a similar plan to unleash Caleb Williams.
JOE BRADY
Current Gig: Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator
Resume: Wide receiver at William & Mary…Cut his coaching teeth at William & Mary and Penn State…Carolina Panthers OC from 2020-2021…Elevated to Buffalo’s OC from quarterback coach after one season.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: Hey, that Josh Allen guy can play a little bit of ball, can’t he? Sure, when Brady took over as Buffalo’s Quarterback Coach in 2022, Allen was a fully-formed product…but under Brady, he somehow improved. If the 35-year-old can bring some of his QB fairy dust to Chicago, things could get interesting under center. Very interesting, indeed.
KLINT KUBIAK
Current Gig: New Orleans Saints Offensive Coordinator
Resume: A football journeyman, Kubiak handled a variety of offensive duties at Texas A&M and Kansas…His NFL path included stops in Minnesota, Denver, and San Francisco…Hired by the Saints in the summer of 2024.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: On paper, this one doesn’t make a ton of sense. Aside from a couple of notable Saints track meets at the beginning of the 2024 season, the son of former NFL QB and HC Gary Kubiak has yet to really prove himself in the league. But the Saints’ run game is decent enough (yay, Alvin “Fantasy Darling” Kamara!), and Kubiak has been clever with his use of Taysom Hill, so there are signs that he could grow into the job. Plus he’d be one of the cheaper HC options, and we all know the Bears bean counters dig cheap.
TODD MONKEN
Current Gig: Baltimore Ravens Offensive Coordinator
Resume: Worked through the college ranks, serving various offensive roles at Notre Dame, LSU, Georgia, and Oklahoma State…Offensive Coordinator with Tampa Bay (2016-17) and Cleveland (2019)…Hired by Baltimore in 2023.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: The Ravens are known as a defense-first franchise, but under Monken, they’ve turned into an offensive juggernaut. (Okay, Lamar Jackson has a little something to do with that, but a juggernaut is a juggernaut.) Without a true WR1 — let’s be honest, folks, Zay Flowers is a high-end WR2 — Baltimore currently leads the league in yards gained by a wide margin, plus they rank second in points scored. Sure, D’Andre Swift ain’t Derrick Henry, but it still feels like Monken could make it work at Soldier Field.
ADAM STENAVICH
Current Gig: Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator
Resume: All-Big Ten offensive tackle at Michigan…Played with Carolina, Green Bay, Dallas, and Houston…Handled various coaching roles at Michigan, Northern Arizona, and San Jose State…Offensive Line Coach for the 49ers and the Packers…Promoted by Green Bay to OC in 2022.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: I’m a crappy NFL scout, so when I told my friends, “Jordan Love is gonna be a stiff,” they were like, “Bro, you said the same thing about Justin Herbert, and look how that turned out.” Clearly the 41-year-old football lifer saw some magic in Love — and he helped bring it to fruition — so there’s a chance he could do just that with Caleb Williams. Also, it’s generally super-fun to poach a coach from a division rival…unless that coach is named Luke “Worst Bears Offensive Mind Since Marc Trestmann” Getsy.
BRIAN CALLAHAN
Current Gig: Tennessee Titans Head Coach
Resume: Between 2010-2015, Denver promoted Callahan from Coaching Assistant, to Offensive Quality Control Coach, to Offensive Assistant Coach…Quarterbacks Coach with Detroit (2016-17) and Oakland (2018)…Bengals Offensive Coordinator between 2019-2023.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: My gut tells me that the Titans aren’t going to give their rookie HC a second year, and it’s understandable why: Tennessee’s offense is terrible (they average 17.1 points, fifth-worst in the league), his team boasts the NFL’s second-worst record (1-6), and Will Levis, their opening day starting QB, seems to have taken about 12 steps back. But during a two-year stretch at the beginning of his Bengals tenure, Cincy's scoring average jumped from 17.4 (2019) to 27.1 (2021), so there’s precedent.
BRIAN JOHNSON
Current Gig: Washington Commanders Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Pass Game Coordinator
Resume: During his ten years in the college ranks, Johnson had stints at Utah, Mississippi State, Houston, and Florida…Former Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Coach (2021-22) and Offensive Coordinator (2023)…Hired by Washington in the summer of 2024.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: Last Sunday, Washington’s offense racked up 481 yards against a pretty dang good Bears defense. (To their credit, Chicago kept the Commanders out of the end zone. Until the Hail Jayden. Which I refuse to further discuss.) Admittedly, the majority of Washington’s creative offensive approach comes from the evil mind of OC Kliff Kingsbury, but the team ranks third in the league in average points scored (29.5), and Daniels is a beast, so Johnson’s probably doing something right.
PRESS TAYLOR
Current Gig: Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Coordinator
Resume: Spent seven years in the Philadelphia Eagles system (2013-2020), where he was promoted from Offensive Quality Control Coach, to Assistant Quarterbacks Coach, to Quarterbacks Coach/Passing Game Coordinator…Had a one-year stint as Senior Offensive Assistant in Indianapolis…Hired as Jacksonville OC in 2022.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: Despite leading a just-okay Jags offensive, Taylor has been a hot coaching name in NFL circles for the last two or three hiring cycles, so he’s probably, at least to an extent, got it goin’ on. Taylor was Jalen Hurts’ QB Coach during his rookie season, so it’s possible — just possible — that he played a role in turning the raw rookie into a two-time Pro Bowler.
FRANK SMITH
Current Gig: Miami Dolphins Offensive Coordinator
Resume: Put in time at Butler as Offensive Line Coach before landing the same role in New Orleans (2010-2014)…Tight Ends Coach in Chicago (2015) and Oakland/Las Vegas (2018-2020)…Spent a year with the Chargers as Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach before taking the Miami position in 2022.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: It might seem easy to look like an offensive genius when you have a Tyreek Hill to play with…but that’s just how it looks. Alongside Miami HC/offensive nerd Mike McDaniel, Smith created an attack that, when healthy, is among the scariest in the league. The Dolphins have two-headed monsters in both the backfield (Devon Achane and Raheem Mostert) and on the outside (Hill and Jaylen Waddle), so imagine what Smith could do with the likes of D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze.
BEN JOHNSON
Current Gig: Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator
Resume: Spent five years with the Miami Dolphins, climbing the ladder from Offensive Assistant, to Assistant Quarterbacks Coach, to Tight Ends Coach, to Assistant Wide Receivers Coach, to Wide Receivers Coach…Hired by the Lions in 2019 as Offensive Quality Control Coach…Promoted to Offensive Coordinator in 2022.
Why He Might Good For the Bears: I’m writing this just four days removed from Johnson’s Lions dropping 52 points on Tennessee, a team that came into the game with a top-ten defense. Johnson helped turn Jared Goff into an MVP candidate, his backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery is among the most electric RB duos of the last decade, and he apparently wants to be in Chicago. (That’s a huge deal, as, generally speaking, no sexy coach wants to be in Chicago.) Getting Johnson into Halas Hall would be a franchise-altering coup, so spend the money, Bears. Spend the money.
Yes. Today.