Bears head coaching carousel: Interviews completed, new interviews scheduled, rumors and wild cards
There are seven NFL teams that will have new head coaches by Week 1 of next year, and all seven are going about their processes in wildly different ways. Some teams, like the New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders, fired their coaches at the end of the season. Others, like the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears, handed out pink slips in the middle of the season. Then there are the Dallas Cowboys, who opted not to extend Mike McCarthy when his contract expired.
The Patriots made the obvious move and brought back former linebacker Mike Vrabel to replace another former linebacker, Jerod Mayo. The other six teams are still looking, and there's no way to tell when they'll arrive at a decision. The Cowboys are rumored to be linked to Deion Sanders but haven't yet conducted an official interview, while the other five teams are in various stages of the process.
The Bears are taking a unique approach by interviewing, well, everybody. We've heard of casting a wide net, but this thing could catch a blue whale. Last week we ranked every known candidate and landed on 18 different hopefuls. There are actually even more than that now, and as teams are eliminated from the playoffs, the list will grow even longer. Ryan Poles is going to need a throat lozenge from conducting all these interviews.
Below we'll go over everything Bears fans need to know right now, from who's already been interviewed, who has an interview scheduled, and who else could jump into the picture. Let's get to it.
Bears completed interviews
- Former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel
- Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn
- Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll
- New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka
- Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver
- Former Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera
- Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing
- Interim head coach Thomas Brown
The Bears completed a virtual interview with Vrabel last Tuesday, but he's now out of the running as he accepted the head coaching job with the Patriots on Sunday.
Glenn was also interviewed on Saturday virtually. Like Johnson, he's considered one of the top candidates in this coaching cycle, with his former the Jets and Saints considered the favorites to land him due to his previous experience with both teams.
Carroll has had a year off from coaching after being let go by the Seahawks, and he interviewed virtually with the Bears on Thursday. He will also reportedly be interviewing with the Raiders on Tuesday.
Kafka isn't considered a serious candidate by Bears fans due to the Giants' offensive ineptitude, but his history with Patrick Mahomes makes him a dark horse. He interviewed virtually on Friday.
Weaver did a tremendous job with the Dolphins defense this year, leading them to top-six finishes in red zone defense, yards allowed and third down defense. His virtual interview took place on Thursday.
Rivera was a member of the '85 Bears, but his name cropping up in this search is still a bizarre development after he went 26-40-1 with Washington. Curiously, Rivera is the only Bears candidate known to have an in-person interview, which he completed on Sunday.
Petzing has been the Cardinals' offensive coordinator for the past two years, his first OC experience. Before that he spent time on the offensive staff of the Browns and Vikings, and he completed a virtual interview on Thursday.
Brown was thrust into an impossible situation after Matt Eberflus was fired, but there's no denying that the team wasn't good once he took over. He's still considered a future head coach by people around the league, though, and he interviewed on Monday.
Bears scheduled and requested interviews
- Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy
- Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenovich
- Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell
The Bears had their interview request for McCarthy rebuffed when he was still employed by Dallas, but now that he's a coaching free agent, he's scheduled to interview on Wednesday.
The Bears moved quickly to request an interview with Stenovich after the Packers were eliminated by the Eagles on Sunday, even though their experience with former Green Bay OC Luke Getsy was less than positive.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Campbell is scheduled to be interviewed, but the Bears haven't made it official. Campbell led the Cyclones to the Big 12 title game, and he's been a hot name in college coaching circles for some time. Of note though is that his contract runs through 2032.
Many of the Bears' interviews haven't been announced until they were completed, so we'll undoubtedly see more names pop up this week.—
Bears rumored interests and wild cards
- Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
- Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores
- Denver Broncos senior personnel executive David Shaw
- Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury
- Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken
- Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady
- Trading for an existing head coach
Freeman will be coaching for the national championship on Monday night, and despite his signing an extension a month ago that will keep him in South Bend through 2030, the Bears have been heavily rumored to be interested in interviewing him. Freeman has history with the Bears, as he was drafted in the fifth round by them in 2009.
Flores' Vikings were eliminated on Monday by the Rams, which frees him up to begin interviewing with teams. The Bears are expected to be one of those interviews later in the week, as are the Raiders and Jets.
The Bears requested an interview with Shaw, the former Stanford Cardinal coach, last week. Though an interview date isn't known, it's expected to be within the next few days.
The Bears can't speak to Kingsbury since the Commanders are still alive in the playoffs after beating the Bucs this weekend, but he'll likely be near the top of their list once his season ends due to his past experience with Caleb Williams.
Monken's star has been rising as his Ravens offense has continued to destroy the competition. Seeing as Baltimore is traveling to Buffalo for a Divisional Round clash this week, Monken isn't yet available, but expect the Bears to interview him once he is.
Like Monken, Brady is a bit busy at the moment, but he's expected to be high on a few teams' lists once he becomes available due to the work he's done in developing the Bills' offense.
Ryan Poles did say that the Bears would "look at all avenues" to find their next coach, which puts the rare coach-for-picks swap on the table. Every name under the sun has been thrown around here, from Kevin O'Connell to Sean McVay to Mike McDaniel to Kevin Stefanski. In short, this probably isn't something we'll know unless and until it actually happens.
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