Windy City Gridiron
Players also rated George McCaskey an A-, good for 13th among NFL owners.
The Chicago Bears clearly went 5-12 last year for more reasons than just their coaching staff. But according to the players, Matt Eberflus’ leadership was among the biggest problems with the 2024 Bears.
The latest edition of the NFLPA’s annual player survey marked yet another scathing rebuke of Eberflus’ tenure with the team as his “C” grade ranked him last among NFL coaches last season. That grade was so poor, in fact, that it dragged down an otherwise respectable showing for the Bears, whose organizational grade ranked 14th overall among franchises.
“The players’ most frequent complaint was with their former head coach Matt Eberflus,” the report reads. “The players felt like he lacked a willingness to listen to the players and the players’ leadership council, and he mismanaged the weekly team schedule.”
The sad part: the Bears’ league-worst ranking in this department isn’t that far off from the 2023 season, where players ranked Eberflus 25th among NFL coaches.
These survey results obviously came long after Eberflus’ mid-season firing last year, so they didn’t play a role in the decision. But the issues were apparent enough to everyone by then.
On the flip side, Bears players continued to express satisfaction with the upgraded Halas Hall, granting owner George McCaskey high marks for his willingness to invest in the facilities and for his commitment (in their eyes) to building a competitive team. In general, McCaskey’s rankings left him middle-of-the-pack among owners — not bad considering his reputation among fans.
Additionally, the team’s weight room and locker room also received strong reviews from players, contributing to the Bears’ decent overall showing on the report card.
Hopefully, the addition of new head coach Ben Johnson and subtraction of Eberflus will help the Bears reach their full potential in the 2025 season.
