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The Chicago Bears are in the middle of their search for a new head coach and general manager following the firings of Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace last week. And they’ve scoured the league for a diverse group of candidates.
Chairman George McCaskey told reporters last week that they won’t be looking strictly for an offensive- or defensive-minded coach, rather a leader-of-men type. And that’s been reflected in the growing list of candidates they’ve interviewed or will interview.
There have been some candidates that fans are excited about the possibility of joining the team, including former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
While NBC Sports’ Peter King was quick to wonder if the Bears could “fall in love with Flores,” he also pointed to former Lions and Colts head coach Jim Caldwell as a good fit for Chicago.
I still like the logic of handing the coaching gig to Jim Caldwell, seeing that the chief adviser to the search is Hall of Fame GM Bill Polian, who has always thought Caldwell didn’t get enough time (three seasons) in his first go-round as head coach in Indianapolis. Caldwell is the steady hand that Tony Dungy is beyond convinced is going to give a young team, and a young quarterback, a great chance. Tough to doubt that. Caldwell was six games over .500 as a head man in Detroit.
Caldwell certainly isn’t the attractive candidate for head coach, it’s hard to argue with his experience. He’s served as the head coach of the Colts (2009-11) and Lions (2014-17), and most recently served as the Miami Dolphins assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach under Flores in 2019. Caldwell boasts nearly 20 years of NFL coaching experience, which includes stops as offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens (2013) and quarterbacks coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2001), Colts (2002-08) and Ravens (2012).
Here’s a look at the complete list of head coach and GM candidates the Bears have requested to interview:
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