New Bears general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus met with the Chicago media for the first time during an introductory press conference on Monday morning.
Poles and Eberflus might share the same first name as the previous regime of Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy, but their press conference proved that they’re anything but similar to their predecessors.
Both Poles and Eberflus addressed some important questions in regards to building a roster, the plan on offense, the development of Justin Fields and the outlook for this franchise moving forward.
While there will be plenty of discussion about “winning” or “losing” a press conference, there’s no way to know for sure whether Poles and Eberflus will succeed or flame out. After all, Nagy was said to have won his introductory press conference. And we all saw how that worked out.
Still, Bears fans are feeling cautiously optimistic about the direction of this franchise.
Here’s how Bears Twitter reacted to the introduction of Poles and Eberflus:
reference to mccaskey picking poles up at o’hare ✅
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) January 31, 2022
“We’re gonna take the North and never give it back”
I love you Ryan Poles
— DaWindyCity Productions (@dwcprodz) January 31, 2022
“Take the North and never give it back.”
That’s Poles’ mission.#Bears
— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) January 31, 2022
Matt Eberflus definitely has that “commands a room” vibe.
— Matt Clapp (@DaBearNecess) January 31, 2022
You win & you’ll get PLENTY applause in this town, Matt.
— Silvy (@WaddleandSilvy) January 31, 2022
https://twitter.com/ChiRuxinBGO/status/1488199327612813321?s=20&t=fmfxFv-qvkCgaDrCV_peJA
Eberflus “I’d like to recognize Matt Nagy for failing miserably and allowing me this opportunity”
— Grant Hall (@Ghall93) January 31, 2022
Yea Flus is a natural at the podium 😂
I realize it doesn’t mean anything till we see results on the field but he sure is building my hype up again
— DaWindyCity Productions (@dwcprodz) January 31, 2022
I must sadly report that I am deeply unimpressed with Eberflus’ answer on what his offensive philosophy is. It was all coachspeak, and abstract. This, after he omitted offense entirely from his introductory remarks. Luke Getsy, it’s all on you. Bring a crew.
— M@ (@MattSpiegel670) January 31, 2022
Poles and Eberflus score some more points in winning the press conference by outlining their vision: fast, physical
Although Eberflus goes with the acronym HITS and may lose a point just for cliches and adding an extra T.#DaBears #Bears
— Todd Welter (@toddjdub) January 31, 2022
HITS program – Sounds cheesy but I think there’s a way to do it that doesn’t turn off a locker room of grown men.
— Sam Householder (@SamHouseholder) January 31, 2022
I like the fact that Eberflus said he stresses “concepts” over plays
Matt Nagy was the exact opposite. He was like “I like this play let’s run it” without any context. It hurt the team tremendously
— Jeremy Layton (@JeremyLayt0n) January 31, 2022
Biggest positive difference so far is Ryan Poles is willing to answer a question directly. That’s a nice welcome.
— Ben Heisler (@bennyheis) January 31, 2022
Holy hell, I like Ryan Poles as the leader of my front office. Smart, but curious, open minded. He seems like a home run.
— M@ (@MattSpiegel670) January 31, 2022
So far this press conference has been solid. I don’t love that neither Eberflus or Poles have directly talked about Justin Fields tho
— Jeremy Layton (@JeremyLayt0n) January 31, 2022
I wish them the best. The taking the north and not giving it back line will be hilariously corny forever or haunt them. Either way I’m entertained.
— Jason Goff (@Jason1Goff) January 31, 2022
“It’s not cookie cutter. I can’t just take that model and bring it here. But I can bring all the different pieces.”
This Poles quote reminds me of the biggest failures of the old regime in trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Let’s not repeat those mistakes.
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) January 31, 2022
Seems like we can officially replace “collaboration” with “candor” at Halas Hall.
Ryan Poles has mentioned a few times he values candid talk, and welcomes people challenging ideas, differing view points.
— Alex Shapiro (@AlexShapiroNBCS) January 31, 2022
Poles saying that the draft is a group effort and how he wants people to challenge him is an insanely nice breath of fresh air
— Austin F (@PodGuyFuges) January 31, 2022
ryan poles NAILED the question about how he views analytics
— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) January 31, 2022
My thoughts:
This is obviously true, but at the same time, coaches can’t be too rigid with their systems that they can’t adapt. We just saw this with Nagy & it led to his demise.
Worries me they haven’t mentioned Justin Fields enough when talking about the offense. #DaBears https://t.co/lWX7uaYM2Q
— Rob Schwarz Jr. (@ChiRuxinBGO) January 31, 2022
Early take on Eberflus’ attitude and demeanor: He’s pretty much every coach ever. #Bears
— Rick Morrissey (@MorrisseyCST) January 31, 2022
I’m always nervous when a coach stresses effort as a philosophy. You’re supposed to work hard.
— Jack M Silverstein (@readjack) January 31, 2022
There is a vibe that these guys are giving off that they’re prepared with their statements and vision. Which is different from how things were as they were coming to an end with the last regime. So many things felt like a mystery cloaked in darkness.
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) January 31, 2022
It isn’t hard to see how Flus can command a locker room. Holy smokes.
— Andrew Dannehy (@ADannehy) January 31, 2022
Oh no, Eberflus mentioned the “why.” I’m sure that will go over well.
— Alyssa Barbieri (@AlyssaBarbieri) January 31, 2022
oh no someone please tell him
eberflus just said he’s gonna explain “the why” to his players
oh man this was going so well
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) January 31, 2022
Everything was fine until the WHY.
Except he said we’ll show them the WHY. Nagy always used to see we need to find the WHY. He never found it.
— Joey Ricotta (@theriot326) January 31, 2022
It’s clear that Coach Eberflus is taking the CEO mindset when it comes to coaching.
Flus is going to manage the team and let his coordinators do their job. #Bears #DaBears
— Bears Nation (@BearsNationCHI) January 31, 2022
First presser critiques on twitter are always fun, but let’s remember: nothing that’s said today ACTUALLY matters. #Bears
— Mike Berman (@MikeBermanNBC) January 31, 2022
Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus refused to get into any specifics about the players currently on the #Bears, and to me that means they are making sure to give the impression that the players all have a fresh start and will need to earn what ever they get.
— Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. (@wiltfongjr) January 31, 2022
It seems Ryan Pole and Matt Eberflus have a more structured plan than Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy ever had. Now we just need to see it on the field.
— Matthias Schwartzkopf (@MatthiasWRNL) January 31, 2022
https://twitter.com/chifanpatt2/status/1488214237206003725?s=20&t=fmfxFv-qvkCgaDrCV_peJA
Did Poles and Eberflus “win” the presser? Sure (I guess?)
I mean, I’m sure people were happy with a lot of the things Matt Nagy said at his opening presser.
I’m cautiously optimistic. A lot of general football speak from Flus but I came away more impressed by Poles.
— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) January 31, 2022
Very impressed by Eberflus and Poles. The media covering this is even more miserable than us Bear fans. @ChicagoBears
— Graham (@gem1138) January 31, 2022
There was a lot I liked from Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus. Some things that concerned me, too. As a whole, nothing they said or could say here matters nearly as much as the moves they make in the offseason and the product they put on the field!
— Jeremy Layton (@JeremyLayt0n) January 31, 2022
I’m a fan of both Poles and Eberflus. Both are on the same page which is huge.
— Joe Kirsch (@ChrisFarleysSon) January 31, 2022
Just it done watching the Bears press conference and now I’m excited to see what Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus can do for this team. LFG #DaBears
— M A M B A M E N T A L I T Y🐍 (@cvp_92) January 31, 2022
I’m sure the Chicago media will have their complaints but that kid has clearly bought into Poles and Eberflus’ direction for the team https://t.co/50N3L1e1sT
— Stephen Letizia (@StephenLetizia) January 31, 2022
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