Amid 3-game losing streak, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus leans on his roots
The Bears are going through a tough time. They've lost three consecutive games and are off to a 2-4 start in the Matt Eberflus era.
As ever, Eberflus continues to lean on his long experience as a football coach, and on his experience under his mentor Gary Pinkel.
Asked about how he deals with a long losing streak and adversity, Eberflus went way back - like 20 years back. Eberflus played college ball at Toledo under Pinkel, then stayed on as an assistant coach. When Pinkel took the head coaching job at Missouri ahead of the 2001 season, he brought Eberflus with him to be his defensive coordinator.
Those first couple of years at Missouri, it wasn't all sunshine and roses for Pinkel, Eberflus and the rest of the program. Missouri went 4-7 in 2001 and 5-7 in 2002 before turning things around in a winning season at 8-5 in 2003. Not until 2007 did they really break through on the national scene.
It was a long, slow build. Those early years were necessary to rebuild the program in Pinkel's image.
Eberflus said Pinkel's demeanor never changed whether the team was winning or losing. That's what he aspires to as the head coach of the Bears. He referenced that when asked on Thursday about his team's current losing streak.
"The one thing I learned from Gary was, man, you have to stay the course," Eberflus said. "What do you stand for? What are your principles? And you better stand on top of those. And you have your eyes forward all the time. That's what I learned from him. I worked for him for almost 18 years, and he was great that way."
Eberflus coached under Pinkel until leaving for an NFL job in 2009.
In all likelihood, the 2022 season was always going to be a long season for the Bears. College football and the NFL are different animals, but some of the same principles apply. Eberflus is setting the foundation on the coaching side. General manager Ryan Poles has only just begun building a foundation on the personnel side.
The losses right now, they hurt. But Eberflus and Poles need to see the forest through the trees. They're trying to build this thing the right way. Eberflus expects himself to coach with the same intensity and enthusiasm every day.
He expects the same from his players, too, especially the leaders. That includes quarterback Justin Fields.
Eberflus said he had a discussion with Fields after Fields aired some frustrations following last week's Thursday night loss to the Washington Commanders.
"We always get told that we're almost there, we're almost there," Fields said at his postgame news conference that night. "Me personally, I'm tired of being almost there. I'm tired of being just this close. I feel like I've been hearing it for so long now."
Eberflus said he met with Fields the following morning to check in on where he's at. Fields noted that he meets with the head coach every week, so it was nothing too out of the ordinary.
"I just wanted to visit with him, because he's a leader of our football team," Eberflus said. "Certainly we have the leadership council, we've got leaders at each position, but he's playing quarterback. So I want to make sure that he was in a good spot and making sure that his eyes were forward."
Fields said he had no regrets about airing his frustration after the loss. The QB hopes every player is frustrated after a loss.
"I don't like losing," Fields said Thursday. "It's just seeing where you can better, seeing where you can improve, watching the film - of course it's going to hurt."
The 11-day layoff between games should be good for the Bears, a chance to wipe the slate clean. They returned to practice Thursday for the first time since the Commanders game. They will face the New England Patriots on Monday night.