The Chicago Bears have made an in-season head-coaching change for the first time in franchise history, as they fired head coach Matt Eberflus following a 4-8 start. The Black Friday firing comes one day after Chicago bungled a Thanksgiving comeback against the Detroit Lions, by running out the clock on themselves.
With Eberflus out, in steps 38-year-old interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to serve as the interim head coach. That’s right, when the Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron earlier this month, Brown was promoted from passing game coordinator to lead the offense. In less than three weeks, he’s gone from passing game coordinator to head coach.
Brown is in his first season with the Bears, and will get the chance to prove he can be a lead man in this league. He’s actually already received some head coaching interest in the past. So who is Thomas Brown? Let’s take a look at his bio:
A former RB
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If you’re an SEC football fan, you’ll likely remember Brown. The former running back attended the University of Georgia, and he rushed for 2,646 yards and 23 touchdowns in 40 career games played. Brown rushed for 875 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman in 2004, which earned him Freshman All-SEC honors.
Brown was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, but didn’t play his rookie season due to an injury sustained in the preseason. Brown then spent some time with the Cleveland Browns before turning his attention to coaching.
RBs coach-turned-Sean McVay assistant
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Brown coached running backs at several different colleges, including Chattanooga, Marshall, Wisconsin, Georgia, Miami (where he was also OC) and South Carolina. He received his first NFL job with the Los Angeles Rams as a running backs coach in 2020. The very next season, Brown was promoted to assistant head coach to go along with his running back duties. That year, the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. In his final season with the Rams, Brown moved over from coaching running backs to tight ends. Following his three seasons under Sean McVay, Brown was ready for another promotion.
Offensive coordinator and HC candidate
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In 2023, Brown received interest from several franchises. He was even interviewed by the Houston Texans for their head coaching vacancy before they eventually landed on DeMeco Ryans. Ultimately, Brown was brought in by Frank Reich to be his offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. Reich started off as the play-caller, but handed those duties to Brown after an 0-6 start. Brown won his first game calling plays, as he helped Bryce Young defeat C.J. Stroud’s Texans, 15-13. Just a few weeks later, however, Reich took back play-calling duties before being fired after the Panthers fell to 1-10.
While the Panthers struggled in 2023, Brown was voted the No. 2 offensive coordinator in an NFLPA survey. This past offseason, Brown began to look at other opportunities. He interviewed to be the head coach of the Tennessee Titans and offensive coordinator for multiple teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. However, Brown eventually joined Eberflus’ staff as a passing game coordinator.
Interim offensive coordinator
The Bears lost all three games in which Brown served as offensive coordinator, but all three games were close losses, and the offense did show improvement. The Bears lost by one point to the Green Bay Packers after their potential game-winning field goal was blocked, fell to the Minnesota Vikings by three points in overtime and lost by three to the Lions on Thursday.
In those three games, Caleb Williams averaged 275.6 passing yards per contest, and threw five touchdowns with zero interceptions. In fact, Williams just set an NFL rookie record for most consecutive passing attempts without an interception. Brown put an emphasis on making sure Williams got the ball out of his hand quickly, and peppered DJ Moore with targets. Moore has caught at least seven passes in all three games with Brown as his offensive coordinator.
This is a major opportunity for Brown, and his most notable job interview yet.
