Dallas Cowboys’ Matt Eberflus not concerned with his Bears past ahead of reunion
When the Dallas Cowboys travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon, it will be a special reunion for a handful of Cowboys personnel.
Linebacker Jack Sanborn will return to the only other NFL home he’s known. Cornerbacks coach David Overstreet, safeties coach Andre Curtis and linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi will return to their previous coaching grounds.
But no other return will be as spotlighted as defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
After three seasons as head coach for the Bears, Eberflus was fired after a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Detroit Lions last year. In the 105-year history of the franchise, he became the first in-season coaching change in Chicago. In his only head coaching opportunity in his career, he went 14-32 and left the Windy City on the lowest of lows.
But even though Eberflus will have the cameras and spotlight on the Dallas sideline as he arrives to Soldier Field less than a year removed from him being on the opposite sideline, the 55-year-old insisted on Thursday that it will be like any other game.
“We’re keeping the process and our preparation the same as we always do,” Eberflus said. “I’m always grateful and have much gratitude for my whole coaching career. So I always look back at everything, how you can learn, how you can grow and get better and improve. That’s the biggest part of experience and that’s what we’re doing there.”
Part of the preparation this week has included a unique “across-the-hall” meeting where defensive coaches step into offensive meetings for notes and tips for that side of the ball. It made sense to do this week with all of the experience on the defensive side of the ball with the personnel in Chicago.
“I think that’s important to do with every opponent,” he said. “Because we have several coaches that were there last year, and [we’re] talking to everybody about it. Strengths, weaknesses, where we can gain an advantage. Just gathering information about different things. That, to me, is always important. We do that every single week if I was with a player, we ask strengths and weaknesses and have them talk to the offense or defense. That’s important.”
Eberflus can do his best to keep the focus on the game and not the storyline, but it will undoubtedly have the attention of the fans and media on-hand on Sunday.
Even though reports from behind the scenes in Chicago spelled a much different reality in his final weeks as the head man, Eberflus decided not to reflect on his time with the franchise when asked on Thursday. Instead, he pointed to the lessons he learned and the road that led him to Dallas.
“There’s always hard moments in coaching,” Eberflus said. “You’re always disappointed when you lose because you put so much into it. The players put so much into it. You’re most disappointed for the players. Once that settles in then you go to work the next day, the sun comes up and you move forward. You learn and you grow and you keep going. That’s what true grit is. That’s what we’re all about.”
When he was let go, Eberflus decided to spend his time off with his wife and two daughters. It was a big reason why he was able to reset in time to take another opportunity just a couple of months later in Dallas.
“I told the ladies this is the first time your dad had December off in 34 years of coaching,” he said. “I said, two things are going to happen. I said we’re going to get closer together and we’re going to get closer to the Lord. And to me, we accomplished those two things and it was a good time with the family.”
Never was there a thought that he wouldn’t immediately jump back in. While fired coaches sometimes prefer to take a year off to recalibrate, it didn’t take Eberflus long to do just that.
“I think you reflect and see what you want to do,” he said. “And it didn’t take long for me to figure out I want to get back in.”
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM.
