5 mistakes of his predecessors Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus must avoid
By Todd Welter
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.
We spoke with Kevin Hickey of Colts Wire to give us a rundown on what we can expect from new Bears head coach Matt Eberflus. https://t.co/ZX7zsAx1qP
— Bears Wire (@TheBearsWire) January 29, 2022
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.
The highest ranking the offense achieved in total yards under Smith was 15th during the run to the Super Bowl. Otherwise, the offense always ranked somewhere between 23rd and dead last in the league.
The passing attack was never high-powered. The highest it finished was 14th in, you guessed it, 2006. Smith went through four offensive coordinators and was unable to develop Rex Grossman or rein in Jay Cutler.
Eberflus inherits an offense that features running backs David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert along with quarterback Justin Fields’ running ability. The head coach can be excused for wanting to run the ball.
He needs to make sure he has the right offensive staff in place to develop Fields as a passer to make the offense more explosive. New general manager Ryan Poles then has to ensure Fields has the weapons needed to make the offense go.
Eberflus also has to make sure he is involved in the offense more than Lovie was. It would go a long way if Eberflus spends time with Fields explaining and breaking down defenses like Patriots head coach Bill Belichick did with Tom Brady. That combination just happened to win six Super Bowls.
dark. Next. Avoid Mistake Two