Blogging The Boys
The former Cowboys coach returns with a familiar scheme
As had been expected for several days, the Cowboys named Matt Eberflus as their new defensive coordinator, moving on from Mike Zimmer after one season. Eberflus coached the Cowboys linebackers for seven seasons, spending the last two with the added title of pass game coordinator.
Eberflus originally came to Dallas to follow Rob Ryan, under whom he had coached in Cleveland, but was retained when Monte Kiffin and Rod Marinelli took over the defense from Ryan. Eberflus quickly became a disciple of the legendary Tampa 2 defense, which he fully implemented as the Colts defensive coordinator when he departed Dallas following the 2017 season.
Four successful seasons running the Colts defense helped Eberflus land the head coaching gig for the Bears. That kicked off a trying tenure that saw plenty of struggles, both on and off the field, for the team. Eberflus was fired shortly after a Thanksgiving loss to Detroit this past season, a game that saw him opt not to call a timeout in a critical end-of-game moment. It was the first time in the Bears’ 104-year history they had fired a coach midseason; Eberflus finished with a 14-32 record.
Don’t let that discourage you from this hire, though. Eberflus may not have worked out as a head coach, but his defensive prowess has not disappeared. While Eberflus initially did not call the plays on defense in Chicago, he took over after two weeks in the 2023 season.
Once Eberflus resumed calling plays, his defense flourished: they finished that year ninth in EPA/play, 13th in success rate, and sixth in EPA/rush. Eberflus remained the play-caller in 2024 (until his firing, that is) and the Bears were ninth in EPA/play, 10th in success rate, and seventh in EPA/dropback under his watch.
It seems that coordinator is where Eberflus is most suited, but what’s the method behind his madness? With nearly six full seasons calling plays, Eberflus’ scheme is pretty clear by now, and there are some signature tenets of his defensive philosophy.
Throughout his coaching tenure, Eberflus has retained one simple mantra: HITS. The acronym stands for Hustle, Intensity, Takeaways, and Smart. The HITS principle is the fundamental lynchpin of the Eberflus defense.
Hustle and intensity basically go hand-in-hand. Eberflus uses the same loaf system that Marinelli utilized in Dallas (and in other stops), which essentially amounts to tracking how often a player is being lazy during a play. Eberflus often points to the final three seconds of any given play, tracking “an acceleration to and through” the play.
As for takeaways, Eberflus has frequently stressed the importance of them. In his four seasons in Indianapolis, the Colts defense finished Top 10 in takeaways all but one year. The Bears accomplished that feat each of the last two years as well. Eberflus stresses tip drill fundamentals and ball stripping techniques often in practices to encourage this.
The final tenet - smart - ultimately comes down...
