Matt Eberflus plays coy when asked about his future in Chicago
The Chicago Bears have all but confirmed that head coach Matt Eberflus will return as the team's coach in 2024. With each passing week, Eberflus' seat continued to cool down and now it seems he's officially off the hot seat entering the final week of the 2023 regular season. The Bears have won four of […]
The Chicago Bears have all but confirmed that head coach Matt Eberflus will return as the team's coach in 2024.
With each passing week, Eberflus' seat continued to cool down and now it seems he's officially off the hot seat entering the final week of the 2023 regular season.
The Bears have won four of their last six games and finished off the season with a five game winning streak in Chicago. Despite the added stability coming his way following the late season turnaround, Eberflus was indifferent when asked about the report that surfaced on Saturday stating his position is expected to be safe following the season.
"My eyes are forward on the corrections of this game," Eberflus said after the game on Sunday. "And I really don't pay attention to that. I'm a football coach, so I know there's always going to be noise out there good or bad. If you listen to either one of them, guess what, you ain't doing your job. For me, doing my job is focusing on the men in that locker room and the coaches and the development of the Chicago Bears and that's what I'm gonna do."
Eberflus' response to the rumors is exactly why the Bears front office is being to lean toward believing that he can be the right man for the job in Chicago. The culture is being established in Chicago and the locker room is one of the tightest groups the team has shown in years.
Eberflus is a major part of that. The players are playing at their best week in and week out while keeping a positive attitude in the locker room despite the disappointing start to the season. Many teams in the NFL fall apart after a 1-5 start to a season but the Bears managed to stick together through the storm.
"The credit [goes] to the players," Eberflus added. "The players have put a lot of hard work in there. They've really bought into the system. This system has a lot of history. It goes way back. But the men all look the same. We got a lot of hall of famers in there. A lot of gold jacket, guys. And we can always point to those guys and the guys are excited to be in the system. And they're buying into it."
While Eberflus wants to credit the players, the players themselves feel like their head coach needs to take some of the credit for himself for establishing the team's culture.
“He’s a players’ coach,” Bears defensive lineman Justin Jones told The Athletic. “Obviously, you can’t give the players all the keys, but the defense is a player-ran team. It’s give and take, but at the same time, he listens to our opinions and listens to our concerns and he tries to handle it accordingly. And we appreciate that.”
The players aren’t the only ones buying into it. The team's front office and fan base have both seemingly turned the corner regarding how they feel about their head coach potentially leading the team forward into the 2024 season. As for Eberflus, he's keeping his focus on what's in front of him and his team.
"I'm focusing on right here right now," he said. "We'll have all those conversations at the end, you know, with everybody that's involved and I'm certainly excited to have those conversations."
Matt Eberflus expected to remain as Bears head coach in 2024
He will be getting another year after all.
