Bear Digest

Matt Eberflus' response to Caleb Williams stokes flames for Week 3

Analysis: Cowboys coach claimed QBs viewed film under his watch but really fails to address what Caleb Williams actually said about the help he received by coaches.
Gene Chamberlain|
Matt Eberflus watches Caleb Williams efforts in warmups. But who was watching whether Williams could watch film the way he wanted?
Matt Eberflus watches Caleb Williams efforts in warmups. But who was watching whether Williams could watch film the way he wanted? | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

Matt Eberflus' brief statement about Caleb Williams in a podcast continues to reflect the type of issues he had while Bears head coach.

It also reveals how easily situations are distorted by people who don't listen.

During The Doomsday Podcast with Ed Werder, the former Bears head coach and new Cowboys defensive coordinator was asked about Williams saying no one had watched film with him last year.

This wasn't actually what Williams said, and therein lies the problem with the entire podcast discussion of Williams and also last year with Eberflus' team.

"In the development of the quarterback position and really all positions in my time at the Bears, we always had daily coached film sessions," Eberflus told the Doomsday Podcast. "That was through the entire year. That was what I observed and that's where it was."

Eberflus added about the situation, "That's really all I have to say about it. That's where it is."

Eberflus basically was answering an incorrect question. What Williams said was not that "no one had watched film with him last year." Williams recently explained what he was talking about during OTAs.

"It wasn't that I didn't know how to watch film, it was more or less the sense of learning ways to watch film and be more efficient, learning ways to pick up things better," Williams said. "That was a funny one that came out, in context, and how I was trying to portray it. It didn't get portrayed that way (in the book).

"It wasn't that I didn't know how to watch film, it was trying to figure out the best ways and more efficient ways so that I can watch more film, I can gather more information, so that when I do go out there on gameday, that information I gathered through Monday, when we got back, all the way up to whatever day the gameday is, so that when I get out there, I can gather it, I see it, I can react, and it's not me sitting there thinking so much about the rules and these different things."

Williams basically sought additional guidance on ways to watch films more efficiently beyond the normal look at film daily. It wasn't surprising he never got it from Shane Waldron or his offensive staff.

Not enough attention was paid to details of any kind with Williams or anything else with that offensive staff, as a league low 1.6 points per game in first quarters and their overall inept play say.

This shouldn't be surprising as they had no experience developing a rookie quarterback at any level and Eberflus had no offensive experience.

Eberflus might actually be correct in his statement to the Dallas podcast from his viewpoint, but did Waldron address Williams in a way that would have provided him an ability to cipher film on his own so that he could gain an even better grasp on opposing defenses beyond what he was getting watching film with coaches? All the subsequent firings said otherwise.

Ultimately, all of this happened on Eberflus' watch. He had to be the one responsible for his own offensive coordinator and offensive staff. He wasn't just a defensive coordinator.

This is how Eberflus coached the Bears for three seasons. He was a defensive coordinator who couldn't really offer much for their offense and then picked Waldron when he could have had Liam Coen or Kliff Kingsbury or Thomas Brown or other qualified candidates.

Hiring Ben Johnson finally put the Bears in a situation where the quarterback and head coach can see things through the same eyes. What Williams does now is all on him.

It all makes for a fun Week 3 in the NFL, when Eberflus comes to Chicago with the Cowboys.

We'll see then how much better Williams' film watching has become under Johnson when he's studying Eberflus' defense.

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI

Published | Modified
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.