Warren was trying to “respect” Eberflus with how they handled his firing |
CHICAGO—The Bears cannot even fire a head coach mid-season, right? Just a few hours after speaking to the media on Friday, Nov. 29, head coach Matt Eberflus was fired.
On Monday, Dec. 1, President and CEO Kevin Warren was asked about how the team approached Eberflus' firing. “When Coach Eberflus had his press conference, we had not made a final decision … If one thing we stand for is family and integrity and doing it the right way. In retrospect, could we have done it better? Absolutely, and I’ll be the first one to raise my hand. But, during his press conference and even a couple hours later, he had not reached a decision,” Warren said. “But on the flip side of it, something that was important to us (was) that once we reached the decision, we wanted to make sure to talk with Matt about that so he could have the respect to be able to call his family … We were trying to be respectful and we did not know our decision when he started his press conference.” Before Eberflus’ termination, the Chicago Bears had never fired a head coach mid-season in their 104 years in existence. Chicago is not going anywhere this season; at 4-8, they do not have a realistic shot at the playoffs. However, Warren felt it was the right time to fire Eberflus and promote Thomas Brown to interim head coach. “It was the right time to make that decision. Thomas is incredibly bright,” Warren said. “He’s hardworking. He’s grown up around the game. He’s talented. He has great leadership capabilities. He’s decisive and he’s clear and I’m excited to watch him lead our football team.” The move makes sense. Brown will undoubtedly be in the conversation for the head coaching position this offseason, barring any horrendous decision-making during the final five games of the season. It serves Chicago well to see what Brown offers as a head coach. He fits Warren's criteria for a new head coach, such as being decisive, creative, and intelligent. “We need an individual who has extremely high standards, who is tough, who is demanding, who’s bright, who has attention to detail, who seeks and will win championships, who creates an environment of accountability, who’s creative, who’s intelligent, who’s a decisive decision maker and who will represent the city of Chicago, all of our fans, this franchise in a manner that is well deserved,” Warren said. Part of hiring Warren less than two years ago was to get the Chicago Bears a new stadium. Warren previously stated he wants the Bears to be the best business organization in all of sports, and that requires having a state-of-the-art place to play your games. That also requires a winning team. “We will build a champion on the field. We’ll build a champion in the community,” Warren said. “We’ll build a world-class stadium. Nothing has changed. We are not going to waver from that.” The Bears have not been doing a lot of winning, especially in the past month and a half. Chicago has not won a game since Sun. Oct. 13 before their bye week. They will look to change that this coming Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers (3:25 p.m. / FOX), who are dealing with a losing streak and injury problems of their own. So, this could give the Bears a chance to get back in the win column.
