Ryan Poles has now officially tied his reputation to Matt Eberflus.

By bringing back Eberflus, Poles is gambling that he will not make the same mistakes he made this season, in which they started 0-4, and blew double-digit leads in three games that they should have won. And you can bet Warren and Poles grilled him on those and how not to repeat them. Unless he does not drastically change his approach and philosophy, the new offensive coordinator and whoever is the quarterback in 2024 does not matter. People can learn from their mistakes and grow, but with Eberflus, I have serious doubts.

And Poles himself could be making the same mistakes that his predecessor Ryan Pace made. Pace made the mistake of drafting Mitchell Trubisky without telling John Fox and then drafting Justin Fields for Matt Nagy. Both coaches were fired a year after drafting a quarterback. Drafting Caleb Williams first overall and pairing him with a conservative coach like Eberflus seems like mixing water and oil. But can he afford to pass up another quarterback again after how rookie CJ Stroud balled out and led the Houston Texans to the playoffs?

Whatever Poles decides, he will be under great scrutiny and will never fully satisfy the fans more than ever. But that comes with the territory of being an NFL general manager. If he nails this off-season, Poles will solidify his position while setting up the Bears for a long-term success that has been eluding this franchise. If he misses badly, he and Eberflus are both gone, and the Bears will hire a new general manager once again to clean up the mess Poles left behind.