Report: The Bears Will Make Matt Eberflus Their Next Head Coach, While The Broncos Plan To Hire Nathaniel Hackett

The Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos entered the NFL’s coaching carousel earlier this month. Chicago made the decision to move on from Matt Nagy after four years at the helm of the franchise, while Denver opted to fire Vic Fangio after three years. The former led his team to the playoffs twice during his tenure, losing in the Wild Card round both times, while the latter never made it to the postseason.

On Thursday, both teams reportedly came to decisions on who will fill those vacancies, and both have made the decision to turn to first-time head coaches. The Bears are going with a more defense-minded head coach, as reports indicate the team will hire Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.

Eberflus started his career in the college ranks and served as the defensive coordinator at Missouri from 2001-08 before coming to the NFL in 2009 with the Cleveland Browns. Since 2018, he’s been at the helm of the Colts defense, and his work with the unit led to him getting the job over a pair of ex-head coaches, per Schefter.

As for the Broncos, they’ve decided to go in a more offensive direction. The team reportedly swooped in and kept Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett from interviewing with the Jacksonville Jaguars by making him their head coach.

Hackett was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo and Jacksonville before filling that role for the Packers in 2019.