It’s difficult to tell which direction the Bears’ rambling, concurrent searches for a general manager and coach are headed two weeks after GM Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy were fired. But it at least appears to be forward.
Both searches will pick up steam this week, with the conclusion of initial interviews and the beginning of second interviews for both jobs.
The Bears are scheduled to interview Colts college scouting director Morocco Brown and Steelers vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan on Monday for the GM opening, according to NFL Network. Ryan Poles, the Chiefs’ executive director of player personnel, is scheduled for a second interview Tuesday.
On the coaching-opening front, the Bears are expected to interview Saints defensive coordinator and former Raiders head coach Dennis Allen on Tuesday. Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is expected to get a second interview Wednesday.
Why the Bears’ search committee that includes Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, chairman George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips is conducting second interviews with coaching candidates before hiring a general manager is anybody’s guess.
McCaskey said the new GM “will be responsible for the entire football operation” at the press conference announcing the firing of Pace and Nagy. To give the new GM that authority without allowing him or her to conduct his or her own search for a coach would seem to be contradictory. But the Bears have operated in unorthodox ways under McCaskey family leadership, so perhaps it’s not quite as big of an oddity as it appears.
When the Bears hired Jerry Angelo in 2001 as the Bears’ first general manager since 1987, they did it so late in the offseason — June 12 — that Angelo was not in position to hire his own coach and he inherited Dick Jauron.
That worked out in 2001 when the Bears, coming off a 5-11 season, surprisingly went 13-3 and won the NFC Central title under Jauron — which compelled Angelo into signing Jauron to a three-year contract. But the Bears faltered in 2002 and 2003 and Angelo fired Jauron and finally hired his own coach — Lovie Smith — in 2004.
A similar scenario ensued when Phil Emery was hired in 2013 to replace Angelo. The GM search was conducted with the directive that Smith would be the Bears’ coach in 2013. The Bears went 10-6 but failed to make the playoffs and Emery fired Smith and hired Marc Trestman. The Bears went 27-53 in the next five seasons and Emery and by the time of the Bears’ next winning season — 12-4 in 2018 — both Emery and Trestman were long gone.
Both searches have been thorough, with many popular and intriguing candidates. The Bears have interviewed 11 candidates for the GM job, with Brown and Khan on deck. They have interviewed 10 candidates for the coaching job, with Allen on deck.
It’s been two weeks since the Bears fired Pace. For waht what it’s worth, Emery was hired 26 days after Angelo was fired. Pace was hired 10 days after Emery was hired. They right in between this time. Maybe that’s the sweet spot.
The pace will accelerate this week, with perhaps a GM in place by Friday. Unless they hire the coach first. With the Bears, anything can happen.