Report: Chicago Bears GM over the moon at winning 4 more games than 2022 season

According to Colleen Kane with the Chicago Tribune, Poles defended the decision to keep Eberflus for next season. Poles highlighted the Bears’ seven-win season as a sign of progress:

“The stability was a big piece of it,” Poles said. “The detail that he coaches with. Taking some of the mistakes from the game, bringing them to practice and making sure that we’re doing things the right way, I saw a lot of progress in that.

“There’s a reason why we went from three to seven wins. The player aspect of it is important but also the detail and bringing the team together. Sticking through those hard times allowed us to push through, and you saw a lot of those wins happening toward the back end of the season.

“If it’s not for him, I really don’t think that’s the case. I think it starts to crumble; everyone starts to do their own thing.”

Mediocrity is good enough for Poles and the Bears this offseason. Bears fans watched two NFC North teams, the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, win playoff games this weekend.

A Bears rival is only going to get better–with a better head coach

The Packers pantsed Eberflus in Week 18, and they’re only primed to be better as they mature. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has proven himself to be a better coach than Eberflus. Settling for Eberflus when the Bears need to make big gains this offseason with the number one pick could set this team back. Sure, the Bears got to seven wins this season. Before the season, most in the national media and sober Bears fans predicted Chicago would finish around the 6-9 win mark. However, the Bears had to make a midseason trade for defensive end Montez Sweat at the deadline to reach seven wins. On that point, Eberflus refused to use Sweat correctly when he first arrived in Chicago. Poles called Eberflus out for not using Sweat late in the game against the Lions when the Bears surrendered a fourth-quarter lead.

Poles knew what was going on then. But he is sticking with Eberflus despite the signs that there are better options out there this offseason. The Bears quickly shut the door on the coaching carousel with Mike Vrabel, Bill Belichick, Jim Harbaugh, and potentially Mike Tomlin being available.