Yes, it’s list season for NFL content creators.
Yes, for the most part, these are generated to get a reaction and some interaction from fans.
And yes, the Touchdown Wire’s head coach ranking from Jarrett Bailey has me writing about it, so well played Jarrett.
Here’s the list of coaches that are ranked worse than ‘Flus.
32. Dennis Allen, New Orleans Saints
That’s it.
Here’s what he wrote about his 31st-ranked head coach.
Eberflus is the latest example of a good haircut and beard being able to fix any sort of issue for a man, but the verdict is still out on if he will ever be a successful head coach. Both of his years in charge of the Bears have been suboptimal, and now he is standing on his last leg. Chicago has had a good offseason, and it had better yield good results on the field.
I agree that the verdict is still out on Eberflus, but I disagree that he’s standing on his last leg.
If general manager Ryan Poles had any trepidation that Eberflus wasn’t the right man for the job, he had the perfect opportunity to let him go after his Chicago Bears went 7-10 last season, and they were gifted the number one pick in the draft.
That gave Poles an easy out.
‘Matt, this is a unique opportunity we have to pair our new quarterback up with a new offense and new head coach, so thanks for the hard work and good luck in your future endeavors.’
Sure, there may have been some pushback from ownership; after all, the Bears don’t like eating contracts, but it would have been a logical sell to the McCaskey family if Poles wanted a fresh voice.
Unless the 2024 season is a failure of historic proportions, there’s no way ‘Flus is on his last leg.
As for the rankings, how can you list first-year head coaches in front of Eberflus? I get it’s all subjective, but judging a body or work, even if it’s determined to be bad, against a non-existent body of work, and the edge should go to the guy already in the fight.
That said, Flus does need to show growth on gameday. His team suffered three terrible blown leads in 2023, but his squad was given upgrades all over the roster this offseason, so who’s to say he can’t step up his game?
He’s proven to be a pretty good defensive mind, his leadership skills are there, he seems to be a player’s coach, and he revamped his offensive coaching staff, so if he improves his late-game decision-making, we could be looking at a possible coach of the year.