The head coach of a football team is the closest thing the sport has to a CEO. He’s in charge of everything. And that’s why the success or failure of the team usually ends up on his resume.
The best CEOs aren’t always the smartest guy or gal in the room. Instead, they’re often the best delegators; they’re leaders who can inspire others to lead too. For Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus, he’s proving early in his tenure as a head coach that he’s capable of both delegating and inspiring. Case in point? He’s given defensive coordinator Alan Williams full control of the Bears’ defense in 2022, something that’s harder than it appears for football guys aligned with one side of the ball.
‘‘He’s kind of stayed away so I can put my stamp on it,’’ Williams said during the team’s rookie minicamp. ‘‘I commend him for that. Every meeting or every practice, he’s not looking over my shoulder, so I gotta go, ‘Oh, am I doing things right?’ He’s said, ‘Alan, you take it, you run with it, you build it, you do it, put your stamp on it.’ He’s been A-plus in every way about that.’’
It’s a breath of fresh air after a failed Matt Nagy regime that was polluted by ego. Nagy refused to delegate the offense to a legitimate offensive coordinator. Instead, he used a revolving door of play-callers to shield him from responsibility when times got tough, but no one really fell for it. Nagy’s stubborn approach to his farce of a system is ultimately what cost him his job. It’s a mistake Eberflus doesn’t appear likely to make.
‘‘I don’t know if many people could do that — have a defensive background and let someone [else] go and put their stamp on it,’’ Williams said. ‘‘So far, he’s done that. I can’t say how much I appreciate that.”
