The Chicago Bears' midseason firing of head coach Matt Eberflus -- following sixth straight losses and a tumultuous Thanksgiving day game -- was atypical of team leadership, former Bears' coach Dave Wannstedt said.
The team confirmed the firing shortly after reports broke, and just after Eberflus spoke to media reporters for a press conference Friday morning. Eberflus’ tenure came to an end after another devastating loss on Thursday against the Detroit Lions.
Overall, Eberflus finished his Bears tenure with a record of 14-32, good for the third-worst winning percentage in Bears history behind Abe Gibron and John Fox. Appearing on NBC Chicago Friday evening, Wannstedt said how Eberflus' firing unfolded wasn't characteristic of the Bears.
"I didn't really like it," he said. "Obviously, we just showed them having a press conference. Right? Then he comes back an hour and a half later, and they let them go."
Such a decision would have had to have been approved by Bears' chairman George McCaskey, who would have gotten a final okay from his mother, principal Bears' owner Virginia McCaskey.
"I'm sure that was part of what happened but it was unfortunate for 'Flus' (Eberflus) and for his family and for all the other assistant coaches, too, just the way it went down," Wannstedt stated.
Earlier in the day, Wannstedt said said one major element had him questioning if Eberflus could be fired midseason -- after a mind-boggling end to the team's game against the Lions.
Local
"Coaches can lose games, but you can never lose the locker room," Wannstedt said on NBC Chicago Friday. "If you lose the locker room, you're done, okay? And I don't like what I'm hearing from the players afterwards. I don't like the vibe. To me, if I'm George McCaskey, that's what I'm looking at. We've had some blunders and there's a thousand reasons why ... Where's my football team at? Do they still believe? That's the key when you get in this situation."
Following the firing, Wannstedt explained he believes there was a "disconnect."
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
"I'm going to go back to the Indy game. I mean, how do you let your young quarterback throw it 52 times?" he said. "That's when 'Flus' (Eberflus) as a head coach got to step in and say, this is not happening..."
Then, there were the past few weeks.
"The Washington game and the Hail Mary...Really there was a lot going on in the last three or four weeks that could have led to a little bit of uncertainty and not disbelief, but questioning with the players," Wannstedt said.
The Bears hired Eberflus after his run as defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, bringing him in prior to the 2022 season as a replacement for Matt Nagy, who went 6-11 in his final season at the helm but led the Bears to two playoff appearances.
