The Chicago Bears' loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday seems to have pushed the team in a direction where they will be hiring a new head coach in January.
Despite the offseason makeover with a new hairstyle and beard, Matt Eberflus remains the same flawed head coach. Eberflus' coaching tenure with the Bears seems to be on life support with that being the main reason why the team isn't making any changes to role that offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has.
After having to dismiss two coordinators last season due to HR-related issues, Eberflus fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy after the 2023 season. Waldron being fired in-season during his first year with the Bears would just be more evidence of why the Bears would be making a head coaching change after the season.
Even with Waldron remaining in place for now, the expectation is that the Bears will have a new head coach in 2025. The early guess from NFL insider Benjamin Allbright is that Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will be the next head coach of the Bears.
Johnson was one of the hottest coaching candidates in the NFL last offseason. It seemed that Johnson was on track to become the next head coach of the Washington Commanders before he ultimately decided to return to the Lions for another season. Given the success that the Lions have had once again this season, Johnson will once again be a top candidate in hiring cycle in January.
If, when, the Bears fire Eberflus, it will be mentioned how the team is repeating the same cycle they did with Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields. For both Trubisky and Fields, the head coach they had during their rookie seasons was fired the following offseason.
The one way for the Bears to officially break that cycle would be to hire Johnson. Some may liken the hiring back to when the Bears hired Matt Nagy but there is one key difference, Johnson is the unquestioned play caller for the Lions' offense.
If the Bears are planning to move on from Eberflus, they won't have to look far for his replacement. Johnson is the clear answer.
