Ryan Poles to remain Bears general manager, lead search for new head coach
LAKE FOREST, IL — Ryan Poles will remain the general manager of the Chicago Bears and will serve as “point person” in the search for a head coach to replace the fired Matt Eberflusteam president Kevin Warren said Monday.
Warren said the Poles would have the “final say” if the two men had differing opinions on who should get the job.
“I’m confident we’ll get there, because the good thing is as long as we keep at the center of our decisions what’s in the best interest of the Chicago Bears, of our players, as we move forward, it will become clear as far as who is the person who will lead this franchise from a football perspective, from a coaching perspective.
Chicago (4-8) had never fired a coach during a season. But a six-game losing streak marked by questionable coaching decisions prompted the NFL’s founding franchise to change course. The Bears let Eberflus go Friday and replaced him on an interim basis with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.
“When you look at end-of-game situations, just some details to finish in those moments,” Polonais said. “We all know that a lot of these games come down to critical points that we haven’t been able to overcome.”
Warren and Poles spoke in a news conference that lasted just under 21 minutes, including an approximately eight-minute opening statement from Warren.
The tipping point with Eberflus came on Thursday, with a Atrocious 23-20 defeat in Detroit. The Bears let time run out rather than call a timeout after a sack, resulting in an incomplete pass from the Lions 41 as time expired when they could have run more than one play.
The Bears decided to make the change the next day — but not before Eberflus made his usual availability the day after the game with reporters via Zoom. He was informed of this a few hours later.
Warren said the Bears had not made a decision at the time Eberflus held his news conference.
“In retrospect, could we have done better? he said. “Absolutely, and I’ll be the first to raise my hand, yes. But during his press conference and even a few hours later, we had not made a decision.
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