Bears: Matt Eberflus latest comments are a breath of fresh air and more head coaches should think like him
One of the greatest divides among head coaches -and NFL analysts, in general- is whether or not to play a young player with high upside and talent over a trusted, vetted veteran. It's a reasonable divide. Do you go with the guy you know will be steady on a more consistent basis? Or do you […]
One of the greatest divides among head coaches -and NFL analysts, in general- is whether or not to play a young player with high upside and talent over a trusted, vetted veteran.
It's a reasonable divide. Do you go with the guy you know will be steady on a more consistent basis? Or do you go with the youngster that's more apt to make a big play, but also a big mistake?
A lot of times, however, that youngster may just be the better player, overall. But, the idea of a "guy being in the right spot" is often too alluring for coaches to the point where many prioritize that over anything else.
As with most things, the best route lies somewhere in-between. The NFL's best rosters have both a good mix of veterans and youth, as one can imagine.
But there are some coaches who are absolutely against playing younger players over veterans for whatever reason. It shows in the construction of their rosters and it shows in who they put on the field. This can easily be considered a bad process: Why would a coach want to cap the ceiling of his team? And, more importantly, why would a coach not want to put their best players on the field.
Fortunately for the Chicago Bears, they don't have to worry about whether or not Matt Eberflus will handicap the team in favor of a few Steady Eddies and his latest comments prove as much.
“You can understand a coach that’s like that,” Eberflus told reporters Tuesday. “He’s a little bit gun-shy, wants to play with the more experienced guy because he knows what he’s doing and all that. But to me, if you’ve got the right guy -and you have the right guys in there and they’re young- you have to play ’em. You have to because the experience they get in that first season as playing, it’s invaluable. They’re going to learn so much ball by being out there playing rather than sitting on the sideline.
“And if they’re good enough athletically and they’re good enough players, you’ve just got to put them out there and they’ll figure it out eventually. And you just got to coach ’em up and coach them through the ups and downs of it. And keep their confidence up. But I believe in that because what you do is you build a faster, younger football team when you do that.”
Granted, Eberflus is in a complete rebuild and is roster is very young. So, he has to think this way, right now. But, it's a good thing he is thinking this way. It shows he's willing to coach through his players and not around his players. Too many coaches have failed over the years because they try to fit players into their system opposed to fitting their system around the players.
Eberflus doesn't sound like the coach to do that, though. And that's exactly what the Bears need as they enter a completely new era of football.
You can check out Eberflus' presser, below:
Featured image via David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
