Eberflus met with reporters on Friday morning and expressed confidence that he would be at the helm in week 14. About two hours later, he’s out after less than three full seasons.

The firing marks the first time in Bears franchise history that they have parted ways with a coach midseason.

Eberflus ends his tenure in Chicago with a 14-32 record. He started each of his three seasons with four or fewer wins through Week 12.

There were calls in Chicago to leave Eberflus in the offseason, providing a clean slate for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to advance. Instead, the Bears stuck with the head coach, who hired new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

Despite improved weapons, the offense had a rough start to the season. Chicago fired Waldron after Week 10 and promoted Brown from passing game coordinator to play-caller. The move got the attack going, but Eberflus’ defense, which had been the backbone of the team, deteriorated.

After a Week 7 bye, the Bears have lost six games, including some glaring coaching mistakes. First came the Hail Mary of Week 8 against Washington, a woeful game at home against New England, and a blocked field goal of Week 11 to lose to rival Green Bay. Thursday’s debacle was the rotten icing on the cake. With a timeout in hand, Eberflus watched his starting quarterback burn too much time on a sack with 32 seconds left. Instead of at least getting a tying field goal attempt, Chicago wasted the rest of the clock on a desperation flurry that fell incomplete.

How Eberflus’ term of office ends is incomplete.

While the midseason firing is a first for the Bears, the situation the team finds itself in isn’t new: Williams becomes Chicago’s third consecutive first-round QB and is playing in his second season under a different head coach than his first, followed by the footsteps of Mitchell Trubisky (John Fox) and Justin Fields (Matt Nagy).

Brown is now tasked with guiding Chicago through the final five weeks before the Bears brass decides the best coach to nurture Williams’ future.