Matt Eberflus' brief statement about Caleb Williams in a podcast continues to reflect the type of issues he had while Bears head coach.
It also reveals how easily situations are distorted by people who don't listen.
During The Doomsday Podcast with Ed Werder, the former Bears head coach and new Cowboys defensive coordinator was asked about Williams saying no one had watched film with him last year.
This wasn't actually what Williams said, and therein lies the problem with the entire podcast discussion of Williams and also last year with Eberflus' team.
Every TD from Caleb Williams rookie season
— Dave (@dave_bfr) June 14, 2025
pic.twitter.com/aUhcyJpd6Y
"In the development of the quarterback position and really all positions in my time at the Bears, we always had daily coached film sessions," Eberflus told the Doomsday Podcast. "That was through the entire year. That was what I observed and that's where it was."
Eberflus added about the situation, "That's really all I have to say about it. That's where it is."
Matt Eberflus has a .326 win percentage. For comparison, Marc Trestman: .406
— Jeremy (@JeromeyR0me) November 11, 2024
Hes 0-18 in his career on the road on Sundays
He barely has a winning record in games they were favored (6-5)
And he’s blown leads in 5 different games where they had a 95% WP
We’ve all seen enough pic.twitter.com/P941oMN5uj
Eberflus basically was answering an incorrect question. What Williams said was not that "no one had watched film with him last year." Williams recently explained what he was talking about during OTAs.
"It wasn't that I didn't know how to watch film, it was more or less the sense of learning ways to watch film and be more efficient, learning ways to pick up things better," Williams said. "That was a funny one that came out, in context, and how I was trying to portray it. It didn't get portrayed that way (in the book).
"It wasn't that I didn't know how to watch film, it was trying to figure out the best ways and more efficient ways so that I can watch more film, I can gather more information, so that when I do go out there on gameday, that information I gathered through Monday, when we got back, all the way up to whatever day the gameday is, so that when I get out there, I can gather it, I see it, I can react, and it's not me sitting there thinking so much about the rules and these different things."
This is the exact moment Matt Eberflus’ fate was sealed with The Bears.
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) November 29, 2024
One SIMPLE thing could’ve prevented this….watch us walk thru what should’ve happened⤵️ pic.twitter.com/AyTJjxNtYS
Williams basically sought additional guidance on ways to watch films more efficiently beyond the normal look at film daily. It wasn't surprising he never got it from Shane Waldron or his offensive staff.
Not enough attention was paid to details of any kind with Williams or anything else with that offensive staff, as a league low 1.6 points per game in first quarters and their overall inept play say.
.@WerderEdNFL asked @dallascowboys new def coordinator Matt Eberflus about Bears QB Caleb Williams saying in @SethWickersham's new book he had to watch film alone.
— Matt Mosley (@mattmosley) June 14, 2025
"We've always had daily coached film sessions throughout the entire year," Eberflus said. https://t.co/E4NIVwgKxy
This shouldn't be surprising as they had no experience developing a rookie quarterback at any level and Eberflus had no offensive experience.
Eberflus might actually be correct in his statement to the Dallas podcast from his viewpoint, but did Waldron address Williams in a way that would have provided him an ability to cipher film on his own so that he could gain an even better grasp on opposing defenses beyond what he was getting watching film with coaches? All the subsequent firings said otherwise.
The Real Reason The Bears Fired Shane Waldron...
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) November 12, 2024
Film Dont Lie...Everyone deserves some blame.
All 22 QB Breakdown: Caleb Williams pic.twitter.com/FeYmPiM7m3
Ultimately, all of this happened on Eberflus' watch. He had to be the one responsible for his own offensive coordinator and offensive staff. He wasn't just a defensive coordinator.
This is how Eberflus coached the Bears for three seasons. He was a defensive coordinator who couldn't really offer much for their offense and then picked Waldron when he could have had Liam Coen or Kliff Kingsbury or Thomas Brown or other qualified candidates.
"It wasn't that I didn't know how to watch film... it was learning ways to watch film and be more efficient."
— Bears on CHSN (@CHSN_Bears) May 28, 2025
Caleb Williams addressed the report about him not knowing how to watch film last season: pic.twitter.com/qkwuLFxRF6
Hiring Ben Johnson finally put the Bears in a situation where the quarterback and head coach can see things through the same eyes. What Williams does now is all on him.
It all makes for a fun Week 3 in the NFL, when Eberflus comes to Chicago with the Cowboys.
We'll see then how much better Williams' film watching has become under Johnson when he's studying Eberflus' defense.
NEWS: Chicago #Bears star quarterback Caleb Williams was not interested in girls as a kid.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) June 16, 2025
Caleb was too locked into football.
In 7th grade, at night, a girl asked him to call her, and Caleb told her, “I’ve got to train.”
“That brought a tear to my eye,” Caleb’s father said. pic.twitter.com/0E8rzkAT1s
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