What the Chicago Bears Need From Their Next Head Coach

The Chicago Bears are a talented, rising team that has been sabotaged by poor in-game decision-making, poor clock management, and, at times, seemingly poor preparation.

The good news is that off-field scandals and locker-room drama have been minimal, at least as far as the public can tell, during Eberflus's tenure. So the culture might not need too much work.

It seems obvious that the next head coach should be good at managing the games themselves -- no more shooting the team in the foot with poor decisions and clock mismanagement. Also, given how Eberflus's lack of accountability for his mistakes was as much of a problem, if not more so, than the mistakes themselves, the next head coach must be ready to take accountability for his inevitable mistakes when he speaks to the team and media.

The next key will be looking for a coach who can develop rookie quarterback Caleb Williams -- or at least hire the right staffers who can. The future of the franchise rests with Williams and that must be taken into account.

I am less concerned with whether the next head coach has a background on offense or defense. There will be a push for an offensive-minded head coach with Williams' development in mind, but I would hate to dismiss the best candidate out of hand if he comes from a defensive background. A defensive-minded coach could hire a great offensive coordinator. He could also use his knowledge of defense to improve the offense.

Similarly, I am not quite as worried about experience as some others might be. Yes, the Bears have had some flops when it comes to first-time head coaches, but the history of the NFL shows that some first-time head coaches succeed in their first job. The quality of the coach matters more to me.

A good head coach will also hire a good staff. Two staffers were fired or resigned over off-field conduct in 2023. Eberflus whiffed on the hire of Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator over Thomas Brown, who replaced Waldron in that role when Waldron was fired. Brown is now the interim head coach.

To be fair to Eberflus, the Waldron hire looked good on paper -- he had OC experience and had helped quarterback Geno Smith resurrect his career. But we've since learned that Waldron didn't relate well to players and his offense may have been too complicated for a rookie. It's shocking that Eberflus didn't see that -- and didn't see that Brown was a better fit for Williams and this roster.

Finally, the Bears need a coach that can really, truly prepare his team during practice each week. Eberflus often spoke of his H.I.T.S. principle as something that would keep his player prepared, but we saw too many slow starts during his tenure. And way too many procedural penalties or other silly mistakes. Indeed, part of the reason Eberflus flubbed the end of the Detroit Lions game is that the Bears took some dumb penalties on the final drive.

With this level of up-and-coming and veteran talent, the next Bears head coach has a lot to work with. If he can shore up in-game management and pre-game preparation while keeping the professional culture intact, this team could take the next step.

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