Eberflus met with reporters on Friday morning, expressing his confidence he’d be at the helm in Week 14.
Pelissero reported Friday that McCaskey, Warren and Poles had just begun a meeting that lasted multiple hours when Eberflus’ regularly scheduled press conference began, and by the time their decision was finalized, the presser was long over and Eberflus was then informed of his dismissal.
The firing marks the first time in Bears franchise history they’ve parted with a coach midseason.
Eberflus ends his tenure in Chicago with a 14-32 record. He started each of his three seasons with four or fewer wins through Week 12.
There were calls in Chicago to move on from Eberflus in the offseason, offering a clean slate for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to grow. Instead, the Bears stuck with the head coach, who hired new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Despite improved weapons, the offense got off to a rocky start to the season. Chicago fired Waldron after Week 10, promoting Brown from passing game coordinator to play-caller. The move jumpstarted the offense, but Eberflus’ defense, which had been the backbone of the team, deteriorated.
Following a Week 7 bye, the Bears have been on a six-game losing skid that included some glaring coaching errors. First came the Week 8 Hail Mary against Washington, a woeful showing at home against New England, and a Week 11 blocked field goal to lose to rival Green Bay. Thursday’s debacle was the rotten cherry on top. With a timeout in his pocket, Eberflus watched his rookie quarterback burn too much time following a sack with 32 seconds left. Instead of getting at least a game-tying field-goal attempt, Chicago wasted the rest of the clock for a desperation heave that fell incomplete.
Incomplete is how Eberflus’ tenure ends.
Although the midseason firing is a first for the Bears, the situation the team finds itself in is not new: Williams will become Chicago’s third straight first-round QB to play under a different head coach in his second season than his first, following in the footsteps of Mitchell Trubisky (John Fox) and Justin Fields (Matt Nagy).
Brown is now tasked with guiding Chicago through the final five weeks before the Bears brass determines the best coach to nurture Williams’ future.