Every day, it's a new hot topic amongst Chicago Bears fans. The latest, which has stirred the pot and ruffles some feathers, came courtesy of a column written by Dan Wiederer at The Chicago Tribune.
Since the firing of head coach Matt Eberflus, the conversations around general manager Ryan Poles, president Kevin Warren and Eberflus, himself, have many fans at odds with one another. Opinions, narratives and flat-out opinions are ablaze within this fan base.
One of the main takeaways and quotes from this column, though, has spread like wildfire and reads:
"To be clear, Eberflus was never forced on Poles -- at least not by anyone employed at Halas Hall," Wiederer wrote.
Many Bears fans have led with the idea that Poles was forced to hire Eberflus, to which Wiederer gave some correction here. According to his report, Poles was not pushed to hire Eberflus and made the decision on his own.
To refresh some memories, Poles was hired and given a top three pool of candidates to interview and choose from. It was Eberflus, Dan Quinn and Jim Caldwell. The day after he was hired, Poles interviews Eberflus. Then, another day later, the hire was made.
So, Poles made the decision to hire Eberflus ... kind of. This still doesn't fully tell the truth unless you unwrap the entire process.
The Matt Eberflus hire still says more about ownership than it does Ryan Poles
Back up before Poles was even hired. George McCaskey, along with his advisor, Bill Polian, came up with that short list of coaching candidates for their new general manager to pick from.
Poles was not included on the entirety of the process. He was merely given three coaches to select from. And, by all accounts, he chose wrong. Look what Quinn has done in one season with Washington. That's not the point of the story, but it still matters.
Had McCaskey done things the way they're supposed to be done, he'd have hired Poles and given him full control over the head coach search. Do we even know if Poles would have come to the same top three?
Doubtful.
Say what you want about Poles, but he hasn't had a fair shake at finding the right head coach. We can point the finger and analyze every mistake he's made within the roster, sure. But, to say Eberflus was his fault? That's far from the truth. And, while it's good to clear the air and note that Poles wasn't at fault for hiring Eberflus, it must also be noted that this was all McCaskey's doing.
It was McCaskey to had to have it his way, to no one's surprise. McCaskey had to lead the search. This is and has been the main problem in Chicago for years now. The ownership never allows a general manager or head coach to do their job. Interference is guaranteed.
Until that changes, the Bears won't change.
So, we can debate Poles and Eberflus all we want. Heck, we can even debate Warren. But, until McCaskey learns his role, none of it matters.