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Following the firing of former head coach Mike McCarthy, the Dallas Cowboys elevated Brian Schottenheimer, their offensive coordinator from 2023 to 2024. While Schottenheimer looks to build his Cowboys’ coaching staff, former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has emerged as one of the top candidates, per Ed Werder on X.
“Corrected: Eberflus has emerged as a candidate to be the next DC and discussed the position but team will first conduct interviews as required by league rules before final decision, per source,” Werder wrote.
Now, the reason this post got corrected was because of a slight mistake by Werder — or his source — in a post less than 30 minutes before.
“Breaking: The #Cowboys have hired Matt Eberflus as their defensive coordinator on new HC Brian Schottenheimer’s staff, per sources,” Werder wrote in his initial post, which has gotten corrected since. “He was a defensive assistant under Rod Marinelli on Jason Garrett’s staff for 2011-2017. He was most recently head coach of the Chicago Bears.”
So, although he might be the top candidate for the Cowboys’ open defensive coordinator position, it’s not his job just yet.
With the rules in place for coaching interviews, there appears to be some sort of hang-up surrounding that.
As a head coach for the Bears, there weren’t many highs. There were, however, many dark lows for the Eberflus-ran Bears.
However, something that was consistent throughout Eberflus’ time as the Bears’ head coach was the presence of an elite-level defense, something Schottenheimer is hopeful to get for his Cowboys.
In 2024, before getting fired after his meltdown against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, the Bears allowed 25 or more points twice. So, of his 12 games coached in 2024, Eberflus’ defense allowed more than 25 points in just 16% of games he coached.
While looking over his entire tenure as the Bears’ head coach, his defense allowed 25 or more points just 20 times — or 43.5% of games he coached.
That number got skewed slightly by the Bears’ 2022 season, where their defense allowed 25 or more points in 10 straight games to end the year.
It was his first year as the Bears’ head coach, and to put it simply, that defense wasn’t very talented in 2022.
However, with the strong possibility of him taking over the Cowboys’ defense in 2025, he looks to bounce back after an unflattering tenure with the Bears.
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