Getsy Is Out, Eberflus Is In
- Jake Hunter
- Jan 10, 2024
- 2 min read
The Chicago Bears provided an update regarding some anticipated coaching personnel changes this morning, with news breaking that offensive coordinator Luke "Screen Junkie" Getsy would be dismissed from his role in addition to virtually all offensive assistant coaches beneath him being relieved of their duties as well. This announcement comes on the heels of a disappointing 17-9 defeat at the hands of the Green Bay Packers to conclude the Bears' 2023-24 campaign with a mediocre 7-10 record. Getsy and his staff leave behind a legacy of curious situational play-calling (e.g. having Trent "Don't Quit Your Day Job" Taylor block an excellent EDGE defender) that helped the Bears secure the #1 overall pick in the 2023 draft in what I believed at the time was a masterful disguise of blatant tanking, but has since proved to be just flat-out unremarkable coaching. I can speak for virtually all sensible AND non-sensible Bears fans in expressing support for this move.
In addition to Getsy, speculation regarding the safety of head coach "Door" Matt Eberflus' job also ran rampant, as the Bears have a sterling 10-24 record in his two seasons at the helm. The team announced today that Eberflus would have his contract renewed for the 2024-2025 season.
My Take:
Getsy 100% should be gone. The offense was far too inconsistent and nonsensical from a situational perspective. While I don't think the Bears' offensive personnel was sensational, it seemed fairly apparent that they were still not getting the most out of the pieces they had. Justin Fields seems to be a limited quarterback from a passing standpoint, but so little of the Bears' success seemed to originate within the structure of the offense, which speaks poorly to the play-caller. His screen call on 3rd and 22 of the Packers game on what ultimately was the Bears' final offensive possession of the season was abominable. Firing him is the correct move.
Regarding Eberflus, I think the Bears are missing out on opportunities in the head coaching market and are settling for a mediocre (at best) status quo with this decision. Whether they were likely to land some of the hottest names (Jim Harbaugh, Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, Ben Johnson, etc.) is debatable (and should call into question the seriousness of the ownership/front office if they can't sell their current situation to prospective head coaches), but retaining Eberflus heading into what will likely be a new era of quarterback play resembles similar moves made in prior regimes where a lame-duck coach is retained and fired one year into the tenure of the franchise's new quarterback. His track record with game management is questionable (you don't lose 70% of your games by accident) and I question his ability to build a competent coaching staff around himself (he 100% has failed fantastically at that thus far, both on and off the field). I think keeping him is an unserious move, which is disappointing given the assets the Bears have to build with going forward. Bears GM Ryan Poles is doubling down on Eberflus, and I believe the Bears will need to be a legitimate, dangerous playoff team next season for him to be worthy of keeping his job. We'll see if they can accomplish that.
I think you are spot on with Getsy. I think Eberflus also has one season left. The state of the Bears was so diminished since Lovie that it is much like Iowa basketball in that it would take years to recover. There is reckoning on tap, but the improvement over last year with Poles' decisions has put the head coaching job into probation at best. Harbaugh would be a hot pick, with ties to the franchise for sure, but I don't think he is what the bears need now. They need a staff builder, as you mentioned.