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Ranking The Vacant NFL Head Coaching Jobs

By Ryan Phillips

Dec 14, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) looks to pass while under pressure from the Seattle Seahawks during the third quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 14, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) looks to pass while under pressure from the Seattle Seahawks during the third quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 28, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) throws in the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) throws in the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Chicago Bears

The Bears were a complete mess top to bottom in 2014, and they probably weren’t even as good as their 5-11 record would suggest. The offense has talented skill position players, but quarterback Jay Cutler is terrible and the defense is a sieve. Marc Trestman couldn’t get Cutler to improve despite his reputation as a quarterback guru, so he and general manager Phil Emery will now be looking for other jobs.

The first thing a new coach will have to do is figure out a way to deal with the Cutler situation. The 31-year-old quarterback led the NFL in turnovers this year and just flat-out isn’t going to get any better. But he’ll almost certainly be back in Chicago next season because of the monster contract he signed in January of 2014. It’s time for the Bears to move on, but they are likely in a holding pattern under center for a year. That’s sure to be a turn off to some candidates.

Once you get past Cutler, the offense has some solid blocks to build around. While Matt Forte isn’t a spring chicken he’s still getting it done out of the backfield and Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall form one of the best receiving tandems in the NFL. Tight end Martellus Bennett has his moments and guard Kyle Long is a certified stud. So there’s stuff there to work with.

Defensively the Bears are a mess. They ranked 30th against the pass (allowed 264.4 yards per game) and 17th against the run (allowed 112.7 yards per game) in 2014. Rookie Kyle Fuller looks like a legit shutdown corner, but other than him the only guy to get excited about on defense was Willie Young, and he left the team’s Week 16 loss to the Detroit Lions with a torn Achilles’ tendon. Linebacking mainstay Lance Briggs is a free agent and won’t be back, Charles Tillman could be done, Stephen Paea is going to need a new contract and could get it elsewhere and there’s not a whole lot to love about the rest of the guys who will be returning.

Another negative for a prospective coach is that he’ll be parked in the NFC North with Aaron Rodgers sitting just a few hundred miles to the North. It’s going to be extremely difficult to win that division any time soon. Over the past few years the Bears-Packers rivalry has gone from blood-feud to nothing more than a geographical coincidence.

Still, Chicago has some pieces in place, but it will take a while to get the team patched up and floating again.

Next: New York Jets

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