Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, right, during day 6 of the Colts preseason training camp practice at Grand Park in Westfield on Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Colts Preseason Training Camp
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Chicago Bears (Getty Images)
The Chicago Bears are going with another head coach named Matt. The hope is Matt Eberflus can do what Matt Nagy could not do and lead the Bears to their first Super Bowl win since 1985.
Eberflus’ hiring so far has been met with a less than thrilled response.
Most Chicago Bears fans were expecting an offensive-minded coach to develop Justin Fields into a franchise quarterback- something the city has not seen since Sid Luckman retired in 1950.
This will be Eberflus’ first run as head coach on any level. He does have the makings to be a good head coach.
Then again, Nagy, Lovie Smith, and Dave Wannestedt all looked promising in the beginning.
Winning will help build excitement. Also, he can win over the Chicago Bears’ faithful if he can avoid these mistakes his past predecessors have made.
Ignoring the offense
Eberflus runs a defense very similar to former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith.
Like Lovie Smith’s defenses, Eberflus places a huge emphasis on gang tackling/attacking the ball. He uses the term “loafs” (as Lovie did), which Eberflus got from Rod Marinelli in DAL. In fact, depending on what happens in Vegas, Marinelli could be an option for Eberflus’ staff.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) January 27, 2022
Lovie Smith went 81-63 in his nine seasons as Chicago Bears head coach. Those nine seasons featured great defenses but offenses that struggled.
Smith’s involvement in the offense was pretty much wanting to get off the bus running the football and not much else. The Bears were top five in the NFL in scoring during the 2006 Super Bowl run. Otherwise, Chicago finished in the top-15 just once in Lovie’s nine seasons.
