The Bears haven't had a Coach of the Year in the building since Matt Nagy in 2018. But will they soon have another one in Matt Eberflus?
According to the Fanatics sportsbook, Eberflus is tied for the favorite to win the award at 10-1 odds. He's tied with Falcons head coach Raheem Morris and former Michigan, now Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh for the best odds.
On FanDuel's sportsbook, Harbaugh is the outright leader with 9-1 odds; Morris and Eberflus are tied at 10-1 odds for second place. However, on DraftKings sportsbook, Eberflus is the outright favorite for the award at 8-1 odds. Harbaugh and Morris follow at 12-1 and 13-1 odds, respectively.
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With new additions Caleb Williams, Keenan Allen, D'Andre Swift, Kevin Byard and Rome Odunze in the building, the expectations for the Bears to succeed in 2024 are high.
Eberflus holds a 10-24 head coaching record with the Bears over two years. Speculation existed last season the Bears could rid Eberflus based on the turmoil that ensued during their 7-10 season.
Instead, GM Ryan Poles and the Bears opted to bring back Eberflus.
"Just in terms of his leadership and stability," Ryan Poles said of Eberflus in January. "I really think that the head coach needs to be able to captain the ship when the seas have storms and really keep everything settled. When you go through hard times and you can keep everyone together, that's the critical piece in a big market like this. You have to be strong. I mean, if he's jumping off the boat and everyone else starts jumping off the boat, it's a hot mess.
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"The stability was a big piece of it. The detail that he coached with taking some of the mistakes from the game, bringing them into practice and making sure that we're doing things the right way. I saw a lot of progress in that. There's a reason why we went from three to seven wins. The player aspect of it is important, but also the detail and bringing the team together and sticking through those hard times allowed us to push through and you saw a lot of those happen towards the back end of the season. If it's not for him I don't think that's the case. I think it starts to crumble. Everyone starts to do their own thing. So to me, that was a critical piece in us."