Matt Eberflus discusses how Jerry Jones impacted his career

Deciding to move on from Matt Nagy at the end of the season, the Chicago Bears have brought in a completely new regime to run the franchise. Matt Eberflus has been hired as the head coach, coming from the Indianapolis Colts as the defensive coordinator.

During an appearance on SportsCenter Wednesday afternoon, Eberflus was reflecting on his career and a couple of names that have mentored him. One was Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, where Eberflus said he saw how to run an “elite” franchise.

“I think it had a lot of impact on it,” Eberflus said. “Mr. Jones, Stephen Jones, Will McClay, the Jones Family. Just loyal. A family-run operation and you really saw the elite level of running a franchise from the Jones family. I really appreciate them and my time there.”

Eberflus spent seven seasons with the Cowboys, serving as the linebackers coach under head coach Jason Garrett. Before the 2016 season, he added on the title of passing game coordinator and was in the role for two seasons. The Indianapolis Colts hired Eberflus away from Dallas as their defensive coordinator in 2018.

He will now be taking over for a Chicago franchise that has struggled since making the playoffs in 2018. He will inherit Justin Fields, wanting to build around the franchise quarterback while also working to rebuild the rest of the roster.

Matt Eberflus discusses Nick Saban during introductory press conference

When Matt Eberflus played linebacker at Toledo, he had a coach who played defense pretty well back in his day. Now that he’s the new coach of the Chicago Bears, Eberflus acknowledged the impact that coach had on him.

Of course, he was talking about Nick Saban. Saban played defensive back at Kent State from 1970-72 alongside Jack Lambert and helped the Golden Flashes to a MAC title in 1972. He was Toledo’s head coach for one year in 1990 before becoming the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator.

But in that year, Eberflus learned a lot from Saban, who went on to become arguably the greatest coach in college football history. The two stayed in contact over the years, providing a great resource for Eberflus as he takes his first head coaching job in Chicago.

“I got a chance to play for a guy my junior year that showed me how to come into an organization and change the culture and change the mindset of that,” Eberflus said during his introductory press conference on Monday. “And I was literally living it because I was a player. I’ve stayed in touch with him, and that’s Nick Saban. I really appreciate the example that he’s given me.”