More than three decades ago, Matt Eberflus was a walk-on-turned-all-conference-linebacker at the University of Toledo when then-defensive coordinator (and future head coach) Tom Amstutz made a prophetic statement.
“He’s a student of the game,” Amstutz said then. “He’s interested in everything that goes on, not just at his position. He has a lot of the ingredients a good coach has. He could be one someday.”
Eberflus, a Toledo native and Whitmer graduate, worked as a student assistant in 1992 and graduate assistant in 1993 before landing his first full-time gig at UT in 1994.
On Jan. 27, Eberflus reached the pinnacle of the football coaching profession, as he was named the 17th head coach in the illustrious history of the Chicago Bears franchise. It capped a 30-year journey for the 51-year-old that’s taken him from Toledo to Missouri and throughout the NFL.
And if you listen to his former coaches and mentors, this is only the beginning.
“He was an incredible competitor, but all of his teammates loved him, too,” former UT and Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “He’s a great team player. That’s a real statement about him. He gets along with people well. He’s not a big ego guy. He will demand excellence in everything he does. The great thing about him is he will earn the trust from that team. You don’t just walk in and say, ‘I’m the guy.’ He’ll earn it because of the way he treats people.”
Winning football games has been an Eberflus tradition dating back to the late 1980s. In 1987, he helped Whitmer advance to the state semifinals. Eberflus turned down his only scholarship at Kent State to walk-on at Toledo, where he became a two-time All-MAC linebacker under Nick Saban and Pinkel. (Eberflus was inducted into the UT Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.)
Eberflus spent nine seasons at UT under Pinkel and was then hand-picked by Pinkel to be Missouri’s defensive coordinator at the age of 31. He excelled at Missouri, recruiting and coaching. The Tigers had some of their best teams in program history during Eberflus’ eight years at the school.
“I usually am crazy,” said Pinkel, whose decision to hire Eberflus was met with scorn, “but I wasn’t crazy on this one.”
From 2009 to 2021, Eberflus was a defensive assistant for the Browns, Cowboys, and Colts, spending the past four seasons as Indianapolis’ defensive coordinator. He’s the first UT graduate to be a head coach in the NFL.
“His biggest thing is attention to detail,” said Pat Gucciardo, Sr., who coached Eberflus at Whitmer. “If you don’t have that as a coach, you’re going to miss the boat on a lot of things. He relates to people really well.”
Conversations with Amstutz, Pinkel, and Gucciardo yielded similar talking points, sometimes verbatim.
Eberflus’ intellect, passion, intensity, and eagerness to learn anything and everything about the game of football was unwavering.
They recalled a player — and later, a coach — who understood the sport and wouldn’t make excuses when he came up short. He took the extra steps to be a better player, displaying many of the qualities that stood out to executives from the Bears and Jaguars that interviewed him to be their head coach.
“I have confidence that he will know how to be the best head coach he needs to be,” Amstutz said. “He keeps finding success at each level, and he will do that again. All the things a good coach has to have, he has them.”
Shortly after Eberflus became the outside linebackers coach at Toledo, a UT player said during a film session that he was unable to make a play because he was held.
Eberflus exploded, incredulous that someone would justify not getting to the ball.
Amstutz knew the Rockets had a good coach.
“Look at who he learned from,” Gucciardo said, “Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel, two hall of fame guys, and the people he met along the way. Matt was a special kid. Not only was he ferocious, he was very respectful, always on time, he did all the things you asked him to do. He’s a quality guy. He’s never forgotten his roots.”
All these years later, the memories catch Amstutz by surprise. Sometimes, coaches have a feeling about players and colleagues, but when the journey plays out as they predicted, it still provides an emotion of astonishment.
The ingredients that were in place in 1991 became a fine cuisine in 2022.
“It’s been a fun process to watch him go through,” Amstutz said. “I feel a part of his whole journey. I feel really connected with him in a deep and personal way. We went to the same high school. I had the privilege of coaching him. I encouraged him to become a graduate assistant. For his first full-time job, I was the defensive coordinator and became convinced he would be a really good coach. All of that was really enjoyable. I’ve always been pulling for him. Whether it was as a player or a coach, he’s always wanted to give his best and more.”
First Published February 5, 2022, 4:00 p.m.