Every NFL head coach likely remembers the moment they wanted to become one. For most, it typically occurs either towards the end or after their playing days. For some, that’s after college. Others may play a few years in the pros before making the transition. Matt Eberflus is a special case. Keep this in mind. He was a good player in his youth. Good enough to draw scholarship offers from Division I programs.
He had every reason to think that he could play in the NFL one day with enough hard work. Yet it seems Eberflus knew early on that coaching was in his future. Sean Hammond of Shaw Media interviewed several people close to the new Bears head coach. One of them was his old high school coach Rob Rose. He told the story of how, right before Eberflus’ senior year, he asked the young athlete to switch from safety to linebacker.
What happened next set the stage for a career path nobody saw coming.
Eberflus initially wasn’t keen on the idea. He wanted to play in college. A position change ahead of his senior year might not be the best thing for his future.
Rose told Eberflus to trust him. At 6-foot-2, about 210 pounds, Eberflus had the size for the position. If it wasn’t working out during two-a-days, Rose told Eberflus, he’d move him right back.
“He took me under his wing that whole offseason,” Eberflus told Shaw Local. “I’d do weights, then I’d do football. Then I’d do weights, and football. He was teaching me and teaching me and teaching me. That’s when I fell in love with coaching.”
That is often something that gets overlooked in the job description. Coaches aren’t supposed to be guys that tell players what to do and expect them to do it. They’re supposed to teach young men how to play the game of football. Motivation is nice, but education is even more critical. Eberflus learned that lesson from the beginning. Rose infused that into his psyche, and it’s become the core of his coaching philosophy ever since.
There is a reason the man has encountered success everywhere he’s been, from Missouri to Dallas and Indianapolis. It isn’t a coincidence that finding a player that disliked him is almost impossible. All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard couldn’t stop singing his praises in interviews. That is because he understood how much the coach meant to his success. Leonard was good, but Eberflus taught him how to be better.
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Matt Eberflus aims to do the same for the Bears
Just look at how he constructed his coaching staff. The same word was used over and over. He wanted teachers on this team. Guys who understand football at a fundamental level and understand how to communicate it to others. If the Bears want to build a team that knows how to execute at a high level, they need the players to understand the game at every level. That takes good coaching.
The great thing about Matt Eberflus is he’s not afraid of a challenge. He took over a miserable defensive unit for the Colts in 2018. Not only that, but he wasn’t even working with the head coach he’d initially agreed to. Josh McDaniels was the one who hired him before backing out at the last second. Not only did the man stay, but he also took that defense from 30th to 11th in one season.
How? By teaching his players what must be done.
Having somebody like this in charge of an entire roster is a potential gold mine for the Bears. Of all the head coaches the organization has had over the past 40 years, the only one that can be called a good teacher would be Lovie Smith. His tenure was a success but haunted by quarterback issues. Imagine if Justin Fields ends up reaching his full potential. Eberflus could take the Bears far.
