Jan 15, 2022; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier walks the field before an AFC Wild Card playoff football game against the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Bears are entering the third week of their search for a new general manager and head coach and there figures to be movement on at least one of those fronts by the end of the week.
The Bears have several interviews lined up between Monday and Wednesday of this week including a second interview with Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus for their head coaching vacancy, and a second interview with Kansas City Chiefs’ executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles for their general manager opening.
After a weekend that saw Poles’ Chiefs defeat the Bills, two candidates for the Bears’ head coaching opening can now be officially hired between Bills’ defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Daboll and Frazier have both interviewed for the Bears’ head coaching vacancy and there is no word if either will receive a second interview.
However, a report from Albert Breer seems to suggest that Frazier may be a finalist for the Bears’ head coaching vacancy along with Eberflus, and Jim Caldwell.
The Bears’ Bill Polian/Tony Dungy-connected candidates–Jim Caldwell, Leslie Frazier and Colts DC Matt Eberflus–have emerged as top names in Chicago.
The report from Breer appears to be more of an educational guess as opposed to sourced information. Being that the Bears have yet to hire a general manager and the search is currently being orchestrated by Bill Polian, it would stand to reason that Caldwell, Frazier and Eberflus are the names that are most prevalent right now.
The reported finalists for the Chicago Bears head coaching search have emerged and it leaves a lot of be desired.
In the same article, Breer does suggest that the Bears’ shortlist of candidates for the head coaching vacancy may change if Poles is hired as the next general manager.
Hiring Poles could mean changing course a bit. Poles is close with fellow former Boston College football letterman Brian Flores, and Flores has already interviewed with the Bears, and Poles has been in touch with a number of other candidates for the Vikings and Bears jobs (Caldwell is one, Quinn, Todd Bowles and Kevin O’Connell are others).
There is a growing concern in regards to the Bears search for a new general manager and head coach. The concern being that the longer that the Bears go without hiring a general manager, it will be setting the team up for another prearranged marriage as was the case in 2015 when John Fox was essentially forced upon new general manager Ryan Pace.
Of the three reported names on the Bears’ shortlist for their head coaching vacancy, Eberflus is the most attractive. Caldwell and Frazier would mark a retread of the Bears’ hiring of Fox in 2015 in the sense that the hires would be safe but likely nothing that would be viewed as a long-term solution.
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