In case you missed it, the Chicago Bears fired Matt Eberflus earlier on Black Friday. The move marks the first single-season firing of a head coach in franchise history. And if you’re wondering whether general manager Ryan Poles would suffer the same fate, the answer is no.

In a statement released by the team announcing Eberflus’ removal as head coach, Bears president Kevin Warren offered a vote of confidence in the team’s general manager:

“I support Ryan and the decision made this morning. We understand how important the role of head coach is in building and maintaining a championship-caliber team and in leading our players and our organization. Our fans have stood by us and overcome every challenge, and they deserve better results. Our organizational and operating structure is strong, focused, aligned and energized for the future.”

I’m not sure there’s anything that would change the dynamic and cause Warren to back down soon after reading this statement from Ryan Poles. On the other hand, I know that the Chicago football team is extremely chaotic. While I’m confident that the Poles will remain general manager long enough to choose the team’s next head coach, I know enough that the chance of something unexpected happening is 0.001 percent.

What’s next for Bears general manager Ryan Poles?

On one hand, part of me believes that Ryan Poles should carry the team’s 14-32 record during his time as GM of the Bears, just as Matt Eberflus did as head coach. I understand that the first steps were always going to look ugly because the tattered remains of Ryan Pace’s regime were necessarily torn down and then rebuilt. Then again, this season’s chaos was entirely avoidable.

Remember, the Poles and the Bears had a chance to move on from Eberflus at the end of the 2023 season and could put the head coach and a rookie quarterback on the same timeline. It would have been a logical step. Instead, the Poles and the powers that be in Halas Hall decided to continue with Eberflus for another season. Unfortunately for Poles and the Bears, the results were so disastrous that he had to fire Eberflus 12 games into the season.

The Eberflus era got so bad that a franchise so averse to change found it necessary, for the first time in franchise history, to rock the boat and fire the head coach mid-season. Once again, this franchise chose the most chaotic path. And the results so far have been exactly what you would expect from this team. Starting the year 4-2 is impressive, even if it feels like it’s done despite the circumstances. But what’s done is done. And while there’s a lot to analyze, there’s also a lot for the Bears to look forward to moving forward with Ryan Poles as general manager.

And yet part of me recognizes that the Poles are not innocent in this organizational mess. After all, he is the general manager who oversaw the firing of two offensive coordinators, the firing of several coaches after disputes with personnel, a season that began with postseason ambitions but failed (another is likely to follow this year), and now a Head coach being fired. Today would have been a good day for Ryan Poles to get on the mic, set the record straight, and take some responsibility. Or at least share his vision for the future. He didn’t. Instead, he put words in a press release. More could have been done, but it wasn’t. And that annoys me.

Ultimately, it is clear to me that the actions Ryan Poles takes going forward will be more valuable than any words he would have said today. Unless something unexpected happens, the Poles will lead the search for a new head coach. I look forward to seeing which candidates are associated with Chicago in the coming days, weeks and months. Stay tuned.