The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus following the team’s disastrous Thanksgiving day loss to the Detroit Lions to extend its losing streak to six games.
“This morning, after meeting with [chairman] George [H. McCaskey] and [President and CEO] Kevin [Warren], we informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the leadership of our football team and the head-coaching position,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said in a statement. “I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization. We extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
Warren added he supported Poles’ decision to let go of the 54-year-old.
“We understand how imperative the head-coaching role is for building and maintaining a championship-caliber team, leading our players and our organization,” Warren continued. “Our fans have stood by us and persevered through every challenge, and they deserve better results. Our organizational and operational structure is strong, focused, aligned and energized for the future.”
It is the first time in the franchise’s more than 100-year history that a coach was fired midseason.
Shortly before his firing Friday, Eberflus met with reporters where said he was “confident” he would be coaching the team in their Week 14 game against the San Francisco 49ers on the road.
Eberflus was hired ahead of the 2022 NFL season and in his nearly three years as coach, he led the team to a 14-32 record including a 4-8 record this season.
The firing comes a day after Eberflus’ clock management ended up costing Chicago as they attempted to make a late comeback against the Lions on Thanksgiving’s first game of the day, falling short 23-20 in the Motor City.
With 32 seconds left in the game and one timeout remaining, the Bears needed a field goal to force overtime. Instead, Eberflus watched the seconds tick off the clock without calling a timeout, and the Bears only managed to get one play off before the clock ran out.
After the calamitous ending to the game, Eberflus said he was “taking the blame” but defended his handling of the situation.
“I like what we did there,” Eberflus said. “Again, once it’s under 12 (seconds) there, you’re going to call timeout there, you don’t have an option. … To me, I think we handled it the right way. I do believe you re-rack the play, get it inbounds and then call timeout. That’s why we held it and it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”
Thomas Brown will be the team’s interim head coach. Earlier this month, Brown was elevated to offensive coordinator following the firing of Shane Waldron.