Thomas Brown has emerged as a bright spot on the Chicago Bears coaching staff in the last three weeks during the roughest points of a turbulent season. Now the Bears will see if he can make an even larger impact with his direct nature as the interim head coach.

The Chicago Bears have made an in-season head-coaching change for the first time in franchise history, as they fired head coach Matt Eberflus following a 4-8 start. The Black Friday firing comes one day after Chicago bungled a Thanksgiving comeback against the Detroit Lions,

The Bears wouldn’t have promoted Brown — and risked damaging the forward momentum of No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams — unless they considered him a real candidate for their head coaching job.