Bears President Kevin Warren: Ryan Poles will remain GM and will hire our next coach In the wake of the firing of head coach Matt Eberflus, the Bears say they’re staying the course in the rest of their leadership. Bears President Kevin Warren said that General Manager Ryan Poles will remain in place and will be primarily responsible for hiring Eberflus’s replacement. “Ryan Poles is the General Manager of the Chicago Bears, and he will remain the General Manager of the Chicago Bears,” Warren said. “Ryan is young, he’s talented, he’s bright, he’s hard working. He has done everything in his power on a daily basis to bring a winner to Chicago, and I’m confident in Ryan. My faith remains strong in Ryan. And as leader of our football operations department, and as our General Manager, Ryan will serve as the point person on our coach, for our upcoming search for a permanent head football coach.” The Bears have faced some criticism for allowing Eberflus to give a press conference on Friday morning in which he said he expected to continue coaching the team, only to fire him later that day. Warren defended the Bears’ actions, saying the decision to fire Eberflus and promote offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to interim head coach was made on Friday and everyone was informed as soon as possible. “These are not easy decisions. These individuals have worked hard. Coach Eberflus worked hard,” Warren said. Warren made clear that the Bears think the No. 1 piece is in place in a young franchise quarterback. “We have a quarterback in Caleb Williams, who has shown he is very special, and in the right environment, he can become even more special,” Warren said. Now the Bears need a coach who can bring out the best in their special quarterback. PFT/Smith
Jaylon Johnson doesn’t regret postgame confrontation with Matt Eberflus: Enough is enough Matt Eberflus may or may not have listened to criticism of him on social media after the loss to the Lions. He definitely heard it from cornerback Jaylon Johnson. Johnson was frustrated after Eberflus’ time management cost the Bears in a 23-20 loss on Thanksgiving Day, a miscue that cost the Bears coach his job, and Johnson left nothing unsaid. Johnson said he “didn’t really give a damn” that his postgame confrontation with Eberflus became public. Eberflus had tried to put a positive spin on the baffling loss that saw the Bears get one play in the final 32 seconds, leaving a timeout unused. “At some point, enough is enough, just as far as expressing frustrations,” Johnson said on 670 The Score on Monday. “But at the end of the day, I found out through ESPN of the firing first, and then received some phone calls, texts after that. But at the end of the day, this isn’t my first go-around, this is not my first rodeo with firings. This is a business. “Guys get fired all the time – players, coach, GM. It happens. I don’t necessarily feel like I was just some major part that played a role in getting [Eberflus] fired. That’s not on me. But at the end of the day, there was frustration. There were words from myself that I expressed just from my frustration of losing. Part of what I said after the game is I’ve been losing for five years. So, I mean, I feel like a high-level player like myself, after a certain point, losing games how we’ve been losing games, someone has to express something. It was one of those situations where it just got to that point where you don’t remember everything that was said.” The Bears have lost six in a row, with four of those losses going down to the final play. Eberflus went 14-32 in his three seasons, including 5-19 in one-score games. “It was just based around frustrations of losing,” Johnson said. “That’s what triggered it. Just some certain things and seeing the way things had went these last few weeks. From the outside looking in, you can say it’s the last few weeks. For me, it’s the last five years of my damn career. “I’m used to winning, used to playing the game at a high level, and I haven’t done that since I’ve been in a Bears uniform. For me, just expressing that frustration. It hasn’t been a lack of talent, especially this year. It’s not a lack of talent. It’s not any of those things where I can just say, ‘Well, we have a bad team, a bad roster.’ It’s just little things, certain situations, a certain way of losing that really hurts, and it just got to a point where I was fed up.” PFT _______ ______________ Im sure Johnson wasnt alone on his thinking and attitude... Eburflus had lost the team a while back and things reached a boiling point. Too bad it took a wasted season for the head-honchos to wake the hell up.
Patriots fire Jerod Mayo after only one season When the Patriots parted ways with long-time coach Bill Belichick last year, they quickly moved to promote inside linebackers Jerod Mayo to the top job. As it turned out, Mayo’s ascension was part of a predetermined succession plan, with Mayo being promised the position multiple years before Belichick left. Ultimately, Mayo got one year on the job. The Patriots have fired Mayo, per multiple reports that PFT has confirmed, in the aftermath of a Week 18 win over the Bills. The victory cost the Patriots the first overall pick in the draft.
I don't know. This team was in such bad shape before the this year. I think he could've gotten one more year.
Just to catch us all up, plenty more stuff to come, Im sure. Chicago Bears: Fired head coach Matt Eberflus on November 29. Requested interviews with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, and Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Requested interview with Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. Jacksonville Jaguars: Fired head coach Doug Pederson on January 6. New England Patriots: Fired head coach Jerod Mayo on January 5. Requesting interview with Lions OC, Ben Johnson ( i thought they had to wait till their season is over?) New Orleans Saints: Fired head coach Dennis Allen on November 4. Set to interview former Stanford head coach David Shaw. New York Jets: Fired head coach Robert Saleh on October 8. Fired G.M. Joe Douglas on November 9. Interviewed former Falcons G.M. Thomas Dimitroff on December 16. Interviewed Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy on December 19. Interviewed former Titans G.M. Jon Robinson and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick. Interviewed former Panthers and Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on January 2. Interviewed former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel on January 3. Set to interview former Jets and Bills head coach Rex Ryan on January 7. Set to interview interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich. Requested interview with Chiefs assistant G.M. Mike Borgonzi. Requested interview with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Requested interview with Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. Requested interviews with Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Set to interview Eagles assistant G.M. Alec Halaby on January 8. Requested interviews with Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, 49ers QBs coach Brian Griese. The Jets are now requesting an interview with Vikings DC, Brian Flores, to be their Head Coach.
From; ESPN The New York Giants are retaining general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll off a 3-14 season, team president John Mara announced in a statement. The quick decision comes on the heels of a 20-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The statement read, in part: "Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll will continue in their respective roles with the organization. As disappointing as the results of the season have been, [team chairman Steve] Tisch and I remain confident in the process that Joe and Brian have implemented and their vision for our team. We look forward to the future and the result we all desire." ________ Do they desire more of the 3-14 stuff?
I am shocked and delighted the Krafts had the stones and the smarts to admit they’d made a mistake this quickly. Mayo was in way over his head. Another year would’ve just been a waste of another year of Maye’s rookie contract. The only unfortunate thing is that a complete house-cleaning is apparently not in the offing. The ST coach did a great job. Everyone else should be on the unemployment line with Mayo. Alex Van Pelt did good work coaching up Maye and Milton on some finer points of QB play, but his game planning and play calling was atrocious. Demarcus Covington was promoted to DC to maintain the one part of the team still working under Belichick and promptly turned it into a bottom 3 unit in the league. And Eliot Wolf’s first season was an abject failure, as well. Other than having Maye drop in his lap, resisting the temptation to overpay Calvin Ridley, and fleecing a 3rd out of the Falcons for Judon, he did nothing to make the shaky roster he inherited better.
Any eligible coaching candidate with a bye can interview during their bye week... That is why everyone is trying to get these requests in early. They can turn it down, at which point they will need to wait until after the team's season concludes.
I'm surprised he isn't already hired... They need to interview a minority, then it will be a done deal... I can't tell you how much I hate the way that sounds.
Titans fire G.M. Ran Carthon Before the Titans finished up the 2024 regular season by losing to the Texans, we passed along word of growing chatter that their General Manager Ran Carthon was on thin ice. That chatter turned out to be accurate. The Titans announced that they have fired Carthon on Tuesday. Carthon spent two years in the role and the Titans went 9-25 over that span. They fired head coach Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season, but Brian Callahan will return for a second season in 2005. “I’ve loved the time I’ve spent with Ran. He’s a talented football mind, a great man, and friend to everyone along his path,” Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk said in the statement. “It’s impossible to ignore that our football team hasn’t improved over the past two years. I am deeply disappointed in our poor win-loss record during this period, of course, but my decision also speaks to my concern about our long-term future should we stay the course. I love this team more than you can imagine. To our fans: we know this level of performance isn’t acceptable. We’re humbled by your support as we continue to work towards building the team you expect and deserve.” The team said that president of football operations Chad Brinker will lead the search for a new G.M. Whoever is hired to replace Carthon will have the first overall pick available to help the process of building a winner in Nashville. PFT and others.
I’ve had a boss like Amy Adams Strunk…no direction, hiring and firing and promoting and demoting people on that day’s whims and moods. Not fun.
One sham interview down with Byron Leftwich, they do have to interview one more still by rule, though. Vrabel is almost certainly going to have options. If he’s not comfortable with the FO structure (and he probably shouldn’t be) and they won’t let him put a guy he wants to work with at the top he may pass. He’s still getting paid by Tennessee I believe, he can afford to be choosy. Edit - sham Rooney Rule interview #2 is out of the way, as well, so let’s see how fast they close the deal now.
I love Vrabel and he could clean up a lot of things Bill had lost interest in and Mayo was incapable of, but I still wonder whether another legacy hire with strong ties to the dynasty era is the right move here. I wanted a young offensive-minded coach to build a stable ecosystem around the young QB last year, and it still feels like the right play to me now.
I agree he can afford to be choosy, but he's a "Patriot", so that is the only reason I believe it will be where he wants to go ultimately. He's in Cleveland because he's from Ohio, went to OSU, etc... This guy is about as loyal as they come.
Well Ben Johnson is the obvious first choice, but I am very open to Liam Cohen, and I would probably want to at least talk to Mike Kafka, Mike LaFleur, Bobby Slowik, and Adam Stenavich, as well.
I’m a Nick Caley stan, as well, but I wonder if he’d want to come back here after he got passed over for OC when McDaniels left, and I’d probably like to see him as a full-fledged OC somewhere before I would bring him for a HC interview.
I don't know if he deserves all the credit, but Liam Coen has done one helluva job with Baker. I don't know if that translates to HC or not, but having a young QB, it certainly couldn't hurt.