The ultimate list of potential coaching candidates for the Chicago Bears

LAKE FOREST – Chicago Bears team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles have their work cut out for them. When the Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus the day after Thanksgiving, it signaled an opportunity.

Warren and Poles can take this coaching search in any direction they want. Thomas Brown is the interim head coach for now. But in the words of Warren, the Bears are going to begin “an exhaustive search” for their next head coach.

While it’s possible Brown could galvanize the locker room and win over support from his bosses, it’s far more likely the Bears hire someone from outside the organization to lead the football team.

Warren indicated that the McCaskey family will provide the necessary resources (i.e. money) to hire the right coach.

“We have full support of the McCaskey family, who has provided us with the resources, not only during the search but also once our new head coach is here, to build an environment that will be a championship environment,” Warren said this week.

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The Bears cannot begin initial interviews with coaches on other NFL staffs until after the regular season. They are free to interview college coaches or unaffiliated coaches – like Bill Belichick – right now. But the search won’t begin in earnest until after Week 18.

Warren and Poles have five weeks to begin building their wishlist. Here’s a lengthy list of potential candidates who they could consider interviewing.

The former head coaches

All of these coaches have done the job before, with varying degrees of success.

Bruce Arians, Buccaneers senior consultant

Arians won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay. The Bears had their chance to hire him in 2013 and didn’t. Arians is semi-retired and seems happy about it. It’s unclear if the 72-year-old former coach would want to get back on the sideline.

Bill Belichick, media personality

Belichick is a six-time champion as a head coach and an eight-time champion overall. The Bears must at least consider this, no matter how poorly things went in the post-Brady years. If the Bears don’t at least call Belichick, the entire search is flawed.

Pete Carroll, Seahawks senior adviser

It’s unclear if Carroll, 73, still wants to coach. Carroll won at least seven games every year during his 14-year Seahawks tenure, including two appearances in the Super Bowl.

Brian Flores, Vikings defensive coordinator

Flores has built several elite defenses, including this year’s Vikings group. The Dolphins fired Flores after back-to-back winning seasons as their head coach. A reportedly rocky relationship with QB Tua Tagovailoa is cause for concern.

Kliff Kingsbury, Commanders offensive coordinator

Kingsbury was 28-37-1 over four seasons as Cardinals head coach with one playoff appearance. Previous experience working with Caleb Williams at USC, however, makes this an interesting one. Kingsbury has found success with Jayden Daniels in Washington.

Mike McCarthy, Cowboys head coach

It’s unclear what the Cowboys are going to do, but McCarthy’s contract expires after this season. McCarthy is 172-109 as an NFL head coach. He won a Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers in 2010, and his Cowboys were coming off three straight 12-win seasons heading into 2024.

Nick Saban, media personality

Saban retired from Alabama last year. His NFL odyssey with the Dolphins ended poorly two decades ago. He went 15-17 in two seasons in Miami before bolting for Alabama. Saban, 73, won seven national championships at the college level.

Kyle Shanahan, 49ers head coach

This would be bold, and it depends on the 49ers’ feelings about Shanahan moving forward. Unless the 49ers fire Shanahan, the Bears would have to trade for him. Shanahan is 69-58 as a head coach with two appearances in the Super Bowl.

Steve Spagnuolo, Chiefs defensive coordinator

The longtime Chiefs defensive coordinator probably isn’t going anywhere. He’s got a good thing going in Kansas City. His record as a head coach (11-41) is unimpressive, but his last six years in Kansas City might be his best work yet.

Mike Vrabel, Browns consultant

Vrabel was 54-45 as the head coach of the Titans. He built a perennial winner who overachieved with Ryan Tannehill at QB, reaching the playoffs three times. His firing in January was probably the most surprising of the 2024 coaching cycle.

The top NFL coordinators

Many of these coaches will probably become head coaches eventually. But none has held the title yet.

Joe Brady, Bills offensive coordinator

Brady helped the Bills revive their offense as interim offensive coordinator last season, then he stayed on permanently in the role. He was previously an OC in Carolina under Matt Rhule. Under Brady, QB Josh Allen is currently the betting favorite to win the NFL MVP award.

Liam Coen, Buccaneers offensive coordinator

Coen is an OC for the second time after leading the Rams offense in 2022. Despite some major injury issues at receiver, the Bucs offense ranks in the top 10 in both rushing and passing. Baker Mayfield ranks sixth in the NFL in passing yards.

Aaron Glenn, Lions defensive coordinator

The Lions defense has been one of the best over the past two seasons. Glenn interviewed for head coaching positions last year. It feels like only a matter of time before the Lions lose both their coordinators.

Ben Johnson, Lions offensive coordinator

Johnson is the hottest name among the current coordinators. Jared Goff and the Lions offense became elite under his tutelage. Johnson interviewed for jobs last year but elected to stay in Detroit. Johnson will likely be among the most expensive first-time head coaches.

Todd Monken, Ravens offensive coordinator

The Ravens offense went from mediocre to elite under Monken. Lamar Jackson won the MVP last season in Monken’s first year running the offense. This season, the Ravens rank second in rushing and third in passing. Monken, a Wheaton native, has been the OC in Tampa, Cleveland and now Baltimore, but he has never been an NFL head coach.

Kellen Moore, Eagles offensive coordinator

Moore has been an offensive coordinator for three teams (the Cowboys, Chargers and Eagles). He has also interviewed for a handful of head coaching jobs in recent years. A former NFL backup QB, Moore has the Eagles offense rolling right now.

Bobby Slowik, Texans offensive coordinator

A former 49ers assistant, Slowik has overseen the rise of C.J. Stroud in Houston and had a handful of head coaching interviews last year. His father Bob Slowik was the defensive coordinator for the Bears from 1993-98.

Other coordinators

Zac Robinson, Falcons offensive coordinator; Jesse Minter, Chargers defensive coordinator; Klint Kubiak, Saints offensive coordinator; Dan Pitcher, Bengals offensive coordinator; DeMarcus Covington, Patriots defensive coordinator; Ejiro Evero, Panthers defensive coordinator; Mike Kafka, Giants offensive coordinator; Drew Petzing, Cardinals offensive coordinator.

From the college ranks

The college-to-pros pipeline has generally not worked out well for NFL teams. Notably, of the coaches on this list, Kirby Smart is the only one with any NFL coaching experience.

Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame head coach

Freeman’s name has come up in recent days. A 2009 Bears fifth-round draft pick as a linebacker, Freeman is in his third full season as the head coach at Notre Dame. He took over when Brian Kelly bolted for LSU.

Dan Lanning, Oregon head coach

Lanning’s Oregon program has won at least 10 games in each of his three seasons in charge. The Ducks are looking to make a run at the national title in January. Lanning was an assistant at Georgia before taking the Oregon job.

Lincoln Riley, USC head coach

Caleb Williams followed Riley from Oklahoma to USC. Riley is 80-24 as a college head coach. His Oklahoma teams won four Big 12 championships. His experience with Williams is the biggest plus, but it’s fair to criticize the performance of his defenses.

Deion Sanders, Colorado head coach

Sanders is among the most polarizing figures in college football. He turned Colorado from a one-win team to a nine-win team in two years. Any team that hires Sanders, though, has to be willing to put up with the media storm that follows him. Sanders has no NFL coaching experience, but nothing about his rise has been traditional.

Kirby Smart, Georgia head coach

If you’re going to poach a college coach, maybe go with the guy who recently won back-to-back national championships. It feels, however, like a long shot that Smart would ever leave Georgia. Smart coached the Miami Dolphins safeties for one season in 2006, but otherwise has spent his entire career in the college ranks.