Former Bears HC Matt Eberflus responds to Caleb Williams' film comments
Former Bears HC Matt Eberflus responds to Caleb Williams' film comments
Caleb Williams has been in the headlines this offseason following an ESPN report from Seth Wickersham about his pre-draft concerns about joining the Chicago Bears. There were also comments from Williams during a rocky rookie season, which included the firing of head coach Matt Eberflus in-season.
According to the report, Williams told his dad that at times he would watch film alone without instruction or guidance from his coaches. ESPN quoted Williams telling his dad: "No one tells me what to watch. I just turn it on."
In a recent appearance on the Doomsday Podcast with Ed Werder, Eberflus (now the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator) denied the claim that he and his former coaching staff didn't help Williams with film study in 2024.
'In the development of the quarterback position, and really all my positions at the Bears, we always had daily, coached film sessions,' Eberflus said. 'That was all throughout the entire year. So, that's what I observed. That's where it was.'
To be fair, that's not what Williams said. While the ESPN report seemed to indicate Williams didn't know how to watch film, that wasn't the case. During OTAs, Williams clarified his comments, which were taken out of context, explaining the issue was watching film more efficiently as a means to gather information.
"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," Williams said, "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. It's more of a reaction game at that point, a muscle memory."
With new head coach Ben Johnson now leading the charge, Williams certainly appears to be in good hands. And there's little doubt that Johnson, one of the league's most respected offensive minds, has already guided Williams through film study.
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