FRISCO, Texas — Matt Eberflus does not want to rehash his 46-game stint as head coach of the Chicago Bears. He has other things to worry about this week.
As the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys (1-1), how does he fix a secondary that was hit for 450 passing yards by Russell Wilson in last week’s 40-37 overtime win against the New York Giants? How does he fix a group that allowed seven pass plays of at least 25 yards? Where does he generate a pass rush that has been a tick slow in getting to the quarterback in the first two games after trading Micah Parsons?
That the Cowboys’ opponent on Sunday is the Bears (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox), the team he was coaching 12 months ago, means little.
He “cherished” his time in Chicago. He wished they had won more games. But he won’t look back with regret.
“Yeah, there’s always hard moments in coaching,” Eberflus said “You’re always disappointed when you lose because you put so much into it, the players put so much into it. You’re most disappointed for the players. Once that settles in, then you work to the next day. The sun comes up and you move forward. You learn and you grow, and you keep going. That’s what true grit is. That’s what we’re all about.”
But Eberflus would not be the Cowboys DC right now without how things ended in Chicago.
Through the first six games last season, the Bears were 4-2 with a rookie quarterback, Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in 2024. Eberflus’ defense had not allowed more than 21 points in a game before the bye week.
They would allow only 18 points the week after the bye, but it was how the final six games were scored that began the unraveling.
With 27 seconds left, running back Roschon Johnson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and Williams found tight end Cole Kmet for the subsequent 2-point play to give Chicago a 15-12 lead over the Washington Commanders.
It would never be that good again for the Bears and Eberflus. Former Cowboys wide receiver Noah Brown caught a deflection for a Hail Mary touchdown from Jayden Daniels and the Commanders won, 18-12, on the game’s final play.
A month later, the Bears were on a five-game losing streak and Eberflus was fired. The Bears won one more game the rest of the season and Ben Johnson was hired during the offseason to fix things. He is looking for his first win entering Sunday’s game.
Two months after a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving where his end-of-game clock management was questioned, Eberflus was hired by coach Brian Schottenheimer on Jan. 28 to be the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.
“When I talked to him — and this is literally what happened — we’re just creatures of habit, if something doesn’t go your way, whether it’s me in Seattle or him in Chicago, whatever it is, and you think, ‘Maybe I’ll take a little time,'” Schottenheimer said. “Now, I will say, he loves to play golf. But the minute I talked to him on the phone, the first five minutes, I was like, ‘Yeah, this dude is all in.’
“That’s what you want. You want someone who is hungry, and no one is more motivated to continue to be an elite coach than Matt Eberflus. I think he’s going to do that for us and this defense moving forward.”
Immediately after he was let go by the Bears, Eberflus spoke with his wife, Kelly, and two daughters, Grace and Giada.
“I told the ladies, ‘This is the first time your dad had December off in 34 years of coaching,'” Eberflus said. “I said, ‘So two thing are going to happen. We’re going to get closer together and we’re going to get closer to the Lord.’ And to me, we accomplished those two things, and it was a good time with the family.”
But football never left his mind. He said he knew about two weeks after his dismissal he wanted to coach in 2025.
“I love coaching players. I love working with the players,” Eberflus said. “And that’s something that I’ve always loved to do, and I wanted to get back in.”
Cowboys linebacker Jack Sanborn‘s first three years in the NFL were under Eberflus in Chicago. When he was not tendered a contract by the Bears, he quickly rejoined Eberflus in Dallas. Asked about what happened with the Bears last year, Sanborn deferred. His focus, like Eberflus’, is on the game.
But he has strong feelings for his coach.
“He’s passionate, wants players to be the best, wants his players to succeed, likes to watch them succeed,” Sanborn said. “Passionate. Aggressive. Physicality. Getting hats to the ball. Causing turnovers. I think all of those kind of encompass what he’s about. Loves ball.”
Coaches know they are often hired to get fired. It’s a fact of the life they chose. And if they are in the NFL long enough, they will have games like Sunday’s against the Bears, when questions will come up about what went wrong and the possibility of seeking revenge.
Schottenheimer has dealt with those feelings before.
“Yes, I’ve gone back to Seattle and gotten my ass kicked because I tried too hard and I over thought it,” Schottenheimer said of one of his previous stops. “I’ve gone against the Jets after I went to St. Louis and played them, and I tried too hard and got my ass kicked. It’s not worth it. You know, it’s part of your career, but you know, it’s what we do. And so, approach it the same as it always is.
“We will win this game if we win this game as a team, not because Matt was going back to Chicago, or Andre Curtis (defensive pass coordinator) was going back to Chicago, or Jack Sanborn was going back to Chicago.”
Schottenheimer had Eberflus talk to the Cowboys offensive players this week to give scouting reports on the remaining defensive players. Wide receiver George Pickens said it was beneficial because he has not played against the Bears yet in his career.
When he walks out on to Soldier Field for warmups Sunday, Eberflus said he doesn’t know what the reaction will be.
“I haven’t thought about it,” he said.
What he has thought about is beating the Bears, improving to 2-1 and fixing the defensive issues.
“You know,” Schottenheimer said. “I think the best thing in the world would be for us to play well, win this game, and give Matt Eberflus the game ball after we play well and beat Chicago.”
