Although head coach Matt Eberflus could be deemed the scapegoat in Chicagoland, he is not the biggest problem plaguing the Chicago Bears. That would be ownership, every day and twice on Sundays. Sadly, that is never going to change. While I do not trust this franchise as long as Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren are a part of it, I think an upgrade at head coach could serve as coveted deodorant.
I get Eberflus taking the job when he did. He was a savvy defensive mind with the Indianapolis Colts, and the Dallas Cowboys before that. Remember, there are only 32 of these, so beggars cannot be choosers. Regardless, this is an offensive-driven league, and the defensive-minded Bears are forever stuck in 1985. That was nearly four decades ago. Maybe they make a change anyway after this year?
If I were running the Bears, hopefully not into the ground like the current operations seems to shamelessly do on the reg, I would probably look at hiring an offensive coordinator, someone who can call plays and get the most out of the quarterback position. I would also punt on Justin Fields as the face of the franchise in an attempt to honestly reboot the entire operation. The Bears need work...
With that in mind, here are five offensive-minded replacements for Eberflus at the helm of Chicago.
Chicago Bears: 5 offensive-minded replacements for Matt Eberflus as HC
5. Ken Dorsey stems from a great coaching tree as a former quarterback
Even if the Buffalo Bills are only a middle-of-the-pack team now in the deep AFC, keep an eye on their offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey for him to potentially lead his own NFL team very soon. Admittedly, he feels like he is a year away from being a year away, but the former star quarterback of the Miami Hurricanes has quietly been one of the most trusted coaches on Sean McDermott's staff for years.
After spending five seasons as the Carolina Panthers' quarterbacks coach, he followed their former defensive coordinator to Orchard Park to help reshape the narrative surrounding the Bills. Although their former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll will get the bulk of the credit for the team's turnaround and Josh Allen's ascension to stardom, Dorsey knows what it takes to elevate the quarterback play.
I think having been coaching on the offensive side of the ball on two defensive-minded staffs in Carolina and Buffalo will ultimately serve Dorsey long-term. While Buffalo is not the same offense without Daboll calling the plays, Dorsey has the resume to at least start getting interviews for head-coaching opportunities this year. Chicago may be a bad first job, but it is still one he could be up for.
Dorsey may not make the Bears way better overnight, but their offense may no longer be a disaster.
4. Alex Van Pelt knows the climate well and can develop quarterbacks
There is a certain blue-collar element that Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt possesses that could conceivably resonate with the rabid Bears fans of the Windy City. An 11-year pro as a quarterback, Van Pelt has spent the last two decades as an offensive-minded coach. He has been at places like Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Green Bay, Cincinnati and now Cleveland, where he is thriving.
Van Pelt may have had a tough go of it during his two years in Cincinnati, but since linking up with Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland, the Browns have not been too shabby. There has been quarterbacking turmoil throughout, but outside of some Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson nonsense, this team is not that bad. I think what it shows is Van Pelt can still succeed in environments that are very chaotic.
Truth be told, that would be the Bears to a T. As far as him being the face of a franchise, I am not so sure about that. The Chicago media could eat him alive because that is what the Chicago media does. To me, the fact that Aaron Rodgers speaks so highly of him from their time together in Green Bay leads me to believe he can be the quarterback whisperer nobody ever really has been for the Bears.
This is a low-end type of hire for Chicago, but that may be as good as the Bears could get this winter.
3. Bill O'Brien won division championships leading the Houston Texans
You can laugh at this all you want, but you have to realize they are the Bears, so we are all laughing at them. Bill O'Brien is often seen as a punching bag from his days leading the Houston Texans and being the Alabama Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator the last two seasons. Although his return to the New England Patriots has not gone over well at all, O'Brien might be what the Bears are needing.
There are three things I really like about O'Brien as a football coach. He has shown that he can win in dire circumstances. He does not always need a star at quarterback to do so. But when he does, his teams often contend for championships and some playoff-level football, college or pro. For every Tom Brady, Deshaun Watson and Bryce Young he has worked with, there is a Christian Hackenberg...
Truth be told, I think O'Brien to Chicago would be a powder keg, albeit one that will result in a player like Justin Fields playing his best ball since he was at Ohio State. Even if the front office pivots off Fields, I would trust O'Brien to know exactly who to draft at quarterback in the first round, as he spent the two previous seasons on Nick Saban's Alabama staff. He would have a leg up over most coaches.
Even if the Patriots are a festering dumpster fire right now, I think O'Brien has one more gig left in him.
2. Mike Kafka is a local hero from his days playing ball at Northwestern
Although the New York Giants' second season under head coach Brian Daboll has gone to hell in a hand basket faster than Daniel Jones can fumble a football, I still really like what their offensive coordinator Mike Kafka is all about from a football perspective. The native Chicagoan starred collegiately for Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern before taking his talents to the NFL as a quarterback.
Kafka is best known as a player for his first two years in the league as a backup on Andy Reid's Philadelphia Eagles. Thus, it comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that he served on Reid's Kansas City Chiefs staffs in some capacity from 2017 to 2021. He linked up with Daboll in New York just last season as an offensive coordinator. Kafka has been on sort of a meteoric rise ever since.
Kind of like with Ken Dorsey in Buffalo, we may still be a year away from being a year away with Kafka taking over an NFL team. Truth be told, he could be a long-term candidate to take over at his alma mater for Fitzgerald if Northwestern does not think interim head coach David Braun can do it full-time. Regardless, Kafka will have options after this season, no matter how things do go for him in New York.
Few people would understand what it means to win games in Chicago like this former Wildcats star.
1. If Jim Harbaugh can't win in Chicago, dump this franchise into the lake
Depending on how the legal situation shakes out over in the Big Ten, there is a chance Jim Harbaugh could leave Ann Arbor for Chicago, just like he did in the 1980s. Is history repeating itself? Are we living in a simulation? Probably, but like with most scientific things, I cannot prove this. Regardless, if Harbaugh is not allowed to coach at Michigan any longer, the Bears needed to hire him yesterday...
Although he may have had more success as a player with the Indianapolis Colts in the early-to-mid-1990s, Harbaugh was drafted out of Michigan by the Bears. It is one of two NFL franchises he is most closely associated with as a player, along with the Las Vegas Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers from during his coaching career. Harbaugh has shown he can win in the most dire of circumstances.
If I were running the Bears, I would punt on the latest installment of head coach Matt, GM Ryan and tell president Kevin his services are no longer needed. Go get Harbaugh and find a general manager he will not clash with right away so that he can draft his quarterback J.J. McCarthy out of Michigan somewhere inside the top 10. McCarthy is a native Chicagoan as well. This is too perfect not to work!
If Harbaugh and McCarthy cannot turn the Bears' fortunes around, dump this franchise into the lake.
