Matt Eberflus

Matt Eberflus ( EE-bər-flooss; born May 17, 1970) is an American professional football coach. He was the head coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 2022 to 2024. Eberflus also served as the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts from 2018 to 2021 and the Dallas Cowboys in 2025, and has coached college football for the Toledo Rockets and Missouri Tigers.

Playing career

Eberflus was born on May 17, 1970, and attended Whitmer High School in Toledo, Ohio, where he graduated in 1988 after helping lead the team to the state semifinals in 1987.

College

Eberflus was a four-year letterman and a three-year starting linebacker at Toledo from 1988 to 1991 under three coaches: Dan Simrell, Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel. Eberflus earned First Team All-MAC honors as a junior and again as a senior, leading the team in tackles both years. As a junior, Eberflus helped lead the Rockets to a 9–2 record and a MAC co-championship. As a team captain his senior year, Eberflus was chosen for the Nicholson Award as the team's Most Valuable Player. His 21 tackles against Northern Illinois University that year ranks as the fifth-best performance by a Toledo player in a single game in school history. Throughout his time at Toledo, Eberflus racked up 325 tackles, including a team-best 89 tackles as a junior and 138 tackles as a senior. Eberflus earned his degree in education from Toledo in 1993 and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

As a walk-on who willed his way to all-league honors, former Rockets coach Dan Simrell called Eberflus "as intense of a player as I've ever coached. He made himself great."