Matt Eberflus denies neglecting Caleb Williams' development during his rookie season
Matt Eberflus denies neglecting Caleb Williams' development during his rookie season
By now, saying Caleb Williams' rookie season with the Chicago Bears was a disaster is the professional football equivalent of beating a dead horse. So much so that discussing how the Bears put their best prospect at the quarterback position in decades in a position to fail right away is like talking in circles. From this point forward, no one, Williams included, will gain anything productive from excavating the depths of this conversation any further. I assure you.
Enter disgraced former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, who really has to learn the concept of "digging up, stupid."
In a recent conversation with Ed Werder on The Doomsday Podcast, Eberflus gave his side of the story on the infamous "scandal" regarding how the Bears' offensive coaches left Williams to his own devices when he had to watch film. According to Eberflus, Williams mischaracterized the Bears' apparent (but still quite plausible with all context at hand) atmosphere of development neglect with their rookie quarterback.
Uh, sure, pal. Everyone totally believes this perspective, which notably came a month later (and without taking any accountability for leaving Williams high and dry), even though Eberflus has been employed as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator since late January:
"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 said. "That was through the entire year. That was what I observed and that's where it was.
That's really all I have to say about it. That's where it is."
What's rich about Eberflus' characterization of the situation is how it reveals he's still not listening to his now-former quarterback. Because, as Williams explained last month, he technically never said that coaches didn't watch film with him. In context, he meant Eberflus's staff's guidance with this all-important football teaching tool was lacking, leaving Williams to try and fill in the blanks without any markers to watch for. This is something you never want to do with a young quarterback still learning the ropes.
That's an important distinction, and one Eberflus conveniently didn't address:
"That was a funny one [the film excerpt quote] that came out," Williams clarified during Bears organized team activities. "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. 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. 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."
In essence, Eberflus's late response once again shows why he should've never been the steward for Williams' initial development. He's still refusing to take accountability for his mistakes. He's still hearing Williams say one thing, then letting it go right out the other ear. If I didn't know any better, Eberflus still sounds like the same self-absorbed lackey hellbent on prioritizing his self-preservation at all costs, which should usually be a career death sentence for anyone trying to coach anything professionally. With all things considered, I guess that's why Ben Johnson seems like such a perfect fit for the Bears.
Well, if Eberflus wants to say anything to Williams' face, his Cowboys will visit Chicago in Week 3 of this upcoming season. Here's hoping that the bitter reunion is as awkward as this whole film saga has been.
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