The Chicago Bears (4-8) have absorbed some painful defeats this NFL season. They’ve lost on a Hail Mary, blocked field goal, overtime field goal and clock mismanagement in the past six weeks alone. All of these heartbreaking results boiled over on Friday, leading Chicago to fire head coach Matt Eberflus. The move represented the first time the Bears have fired a head coach mid-season in their 105-year history.
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Now that Eberflus is out of the picture, fans and analysts are making wish lists for Chicago’s next head coach. Chad Johnson and Shannon Sharpe talked about the Bears’ situation on Nightcap, and actually disagreed on who is “the best coach to fix” them. “Ochocinco” believes they would be best served hiring Bill Belichick.
“I said it yesterday, and Imma say it again: I like [Bill] Belichick… will he actually take the job? I’m not sure. But I know wherever he goes, he has to have a quarterback at the helm… and he has a quarterback in Caleb Williams… New England, Chicago, same weather. Windy City, snowy city… Bill is used to that type of atmosphere.”
Sharpe understood where Johnson was coming from in his argument, but didn’t share his sentiment.
Shannon Sharpe has concerns about Bill Belichick joining the Bears
During his two-decade tenure in New England, Bill Belichick popularized “The Patriot Way.” New England won six Super Bowls under that methodology. However, it took a special mindset from his leader to convince his roster to adhere to those principles. Caleb Williams is very talented, but his approach to football is not rumored to be similar to Tom Brady’s.
Once Brady exited Belichick’s locker room, the Patriots struggled. They went 29-36 in Belichick’s final four seasons. Those woes led New England to part ways with him after the 2023 campaign. Sharpe doesn’t think Belichick is willing to adapt his style, and has zero confidence in it being the best way to maximize Williams’ skillset.
“Coach Belichick only knows one way to coach. And he wants to coach everybody, all these quarterbacks, like he coached Tom [Brady]… everybody can’t take that type of coaching… the really great coaches know how to get through to a player using different techniques… you can’t be condescending. You can’t be flippant or dismissive just because ‘I was that way with Tom.'”
Belichick’s defensive background may also not be most useful for fully unlocking Williams’ ability. Passing game coordinator turned interim offensive coordinator turned interim head coach Thomas Brown has seemingly done that since stepping into the second role in Week 11. Over the past three games, Williams has completed 64.1% of his passes (75/117) for 827 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Chicago is likely to embark on a deep search for their next head coach one the season ends. But if Williams continues performing well down the stretch, Brown may find his second interim tag removed. The next chance for both men to prove themselves comes in Week 14 against the San Francisco 49ers.
