Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus a finalist for Jaguars, Bears head coaching jobs
INDIANAPOLIS — Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is getting second interviews for both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears head coaching jobs, league sources confirmed to IndyStar.
In NFL circles, a second interview typically means a candidate is a finalist for the position, and that’s how the NFL Network characterized Eberflus’ candidacy in both cities.
Eberflus, who is widely respected around the NFL, has drawn a lot of interest in the coaching market over the past couple of seasons.
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The 51-year-old defensive coordinator has made it no secret that he covets a head coaching opportunity.
“That’s a great assumption,” Eberflus said this season when asked about his desire to be a head coach. “And it’s true.”
Jacksonville targeted Eberflus early in its search after firing former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer 13 games into his first season, following a string of highly public scandals.
Working under new NFL rules that allow teams to interview candidates with two weeks left in the regular season as long as the team has an open head coaching position, the Jaguars requested an in-season interview, but Eberflus and the Colts postponed the interview at that time, preferring to wait until after the end of the regular season.
Chicago fired both head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace at the end of the season and is holding concurrent searches for both positions. The Bears have already interviewed Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds, among others, for the general manager spot.
But the hiring cycle has been in full swing the past week and a half, and a few teams are starting to whittle down their lists of candidates to finalists, although others are still in the middle of their first round of interviews.
Eberflus, who was initially hired for Josh McDaniels’ staff, has been a fixture on Frank Reich’s staff for four seasons. Under Eberflus, the Colts have finished in the top 10 in takeaways in all four seasons and routinely played excellent football against the run, although the zone-heavy system has struggled at times with efficient quarterbacks.
Indianapolis has finished in the top 10 in scoring defense three times in Eberflus’ four seasons, and the Colts have finished between eighth and 16th in total yards in all four years, although Indianapolis hasn’t been able to establish itself among the NFL’s elite defenses.
“People are noticing the work he’s doing,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said last week.
Ballard played a key role in bringing Eberflus to Indianapolis, hiring the defensive coordinator because of his roots in the Tampa Two, the defense Tony Dungy ran with the Colts and the defense Ballard worked with in Chicago for the better part of a decade.
If Eberflus gets hired as a head coach, though, Indianapolis wouldn’t necessarily look for a new coordinator who runs the same defensive scheme.
"Frank and I, Mr. Irsay, we'd talk through it and figure out which way we wanted to go," Ballard said. "But it wouldn't have to be from a specific coaching tree."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts DC Matt Eberflus finalist for Jaguars, Bears head coaching jobs
