Coaching search, coaching staff changes and more: What we learned from Chicago Bears Monday press conference

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - It is the start of a new day for the Chicago Bears, one the franchise hopes will lead to the success they've promised.

General manager Ryan Poles, Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren and interim head coach Thomas Brown all addressed the media on Monday following the seismic shift of a week the franchise had.

Out is Matt Eberflus. At the helm is Thomas Brown. The future lies in the hands of Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren.

"These next five to six weeks are critical and you hate saying the decisions are going to set the trajectory of the franchise over the next 10 to 15 to 20 years. This is one that will," Warren said. "It is critically important that we put all of our energy into making sure that we exhaust this search, get the right person here, build this community."

Here's what we learned as the Chicago Bears leadership and administration addressed the media following Matt Eberflus' firing:

The Bears believe their head coach opening to be the best

The NFL may have double-digit head coach openings this offseason. The Bears aren't the first opening – that distinction lies with the New York Jets – but the Bears' brass believes it to be the best opening.

Warren said that on Monday.

"This will be the most coveted job in the National Football League this year," Warren said. "Ryan and I need to work hand in hand together to make sure we bring that to life, not only from a head coach standpoint, but also from an entire staff standpoint."

Warren backed up his point with four reasons: The draft capital the Bears have in the next NFL draft, the remaining salary cap space the Bears can work with, the talented roster Poles constructed and Caleb Williams.

There are some merits here.

Of the three current openings in NFL, the Bears, Jets and New Orleans Saints, the Bears have their long-term quarterback. Williams is the future of the Bears; Aaron Rogers and Derek Carr are questionable futures of the Jets and Saints, respectively.

The Bears rank 23rd in the NFL in cap space currently, but that could easily change this offseason. The bottom line is there's room to work with. The Bears will have three draft picks in the first two days of the 2025 NFL Draft, too.

The roster Poles constructed has its core set for the next few years, too. Williams, tight end Cole Kmet, wide receiver DJ Moore, edge rusher Montez Sweat, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and receiver Rome Odunze figure to be key playmakers for the Bears to come.

Now, they need a full-time coach to lead the team.

What spurred the coaching change?

The noise surrounded the Chicago Bears for weeks, and only got louder when the team fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

It reached a fever pitch when the Bears' late-game decisions led to a loss against Detroit. Then, for the first time in over 100 years of this franchise's existence, the team fired a head coach midseason.

Those losses, which have materialied in an ongoing six-game losing streak, were the reason for the firing.

"At the end of the day, we came up short too many times," Poles said. "We had to make a change."

Poles said that decision wasn't an easy one to make. It could have happened after the losses to New England or Arizona.

It's impossible to think if anything would be different had the franchise fired Eberflus weeks ago as opposed to last weekend. But, Poles stressed the franchise didn't want to make a split decision on whether or not to fire their head coach.

"I think there's times where you got to reflect back, see what maybe some of the issues are. Is there a system problem? Is it repetitive enough to make a move?" Poles said. "At that time, I felt like working through each of those weeks, we saw a little spurt in the three-win streak that we had there. And then we started going down this  recent path where things started getting a little bit more repetitive and that's when eventually we got together and had that conversation."

Kevin Warren will have a voice in this decision

If there was any question about the leadership of the Chicago Bears, Warren put it to rest quickly.

There will be no change within the franchise other than the Bears' head coaching position.

"Ryan Poles is the general manager of the Chicago Bears. He will remain the general manager of the Chicago Bears," Warren said. "I'm confident in Ryan."

Warren said that Poles is leading the coaching search, too. However, when asked if Poles had the final say, Warren didn't officially give his blessing.

There won't be one person making the decisions at Halas Hall. Poles, Warren and Bears chairman George McCaskey will all have a voice in deciding the Bears' next head coach.

But, Warren will have plenty of a voice.

"He's head of football operations and so he will have the final say if it ever got to that point," Warren said. "I'm confident that we will work through it because the good thing about it, so long as we keep the center of our decisions, what's in the best interest of the Chicago Bears are players as we go forward, it will become clear as far as who is the person should lead this franchise from a football standpoint, from a coaching standpoint."

The Bears regret how last Friday looked

The perception around the NFL last Friday wasn't a kind look upon the Bears as a franchise.

Eberflus, two hours after giving a press conference following the loss to Detroit, was fired. That 9 a.m. press conference was confirmed at 9:02 a.m., leaving reporters to speculate before Eberflus spoke.

Warren understood the optics of that moment, and explained his side.

"In retrospect, could we have done better? Yes," Warren said. "We were trying to be respectful and we did not know our decision when he started his press conference."

What the Bears didn't want was for Eberflus to find out about his fate from anyone else except from the Bears leadership.

"Something that was important to us is 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," Warren said. "It happens around the league a lot where a head coach will find out he's terminated and he finds out before he's told from the organization."

Brown made his staff shake ups after his promotion

When Eberflus was fired, that meant the interim head coach would need to figure out a certain aspect of the defense: Who will call plays?

When Brown was elevated, that meant two more things needed to be solved: who will serve as offensive coordinator, and who will call offensive play?

Brown answered that right away. 

First things first, wide receivers coach Chris Beatty will be promoted and serve as the team's interim offensive coordinator.

"He will man that position and I'll work closely with him and the rest of the staff,
 Brown said. "Mainly he and C-MO (offensive line coach Chris Morgan) for the most part. But our entire staff is involved. I said it before as well when I became the OC, it's not a one-man show. It's not about me."

What happens with the defense now that its main play caller is gone? Brown said that rests in the hands of defensive coordinator Eric Washington.

"I trust those guys a hundred percent to do their jobs with excellence," Brown said. (Richard Hightower) HT will still manage our special teams. So that'll be the changes we'll have as far as the staffing goes."