The Bears are nearing the end of their search for a new general manager and head coach, which has consisted of a diverse group of names for both vacancies.
Chicago appears to be close to hiring their new GM, but head coach is a bigger focus considering there’s no slam-dunk candidate on the market. There are some names that have drawn strong fan support, including Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
But there have been some reports from insiders that indicate the Bears could be headed in a much different direction. And it’s not going to make a lot of fans happy.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Jim Caldwell, Leslie Frazier and Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus have emerged as favorites for the Bears head coach job.
The Bears’ Bill Polian/Tony Dungy–connected candidates—Jim Caldwell, Leslie Frazier and Colts DC Matt Eberflus—have emerged as top names in Chicago. 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). So just like Quinn is the big domino on the coaching side, Poles could be the next domino on the general manager side.
Eberflus is the only head coach candidate to receive a second interview as of Monday morning, and it sounds like Bill Polian is high on a possible Eberflus-Morocco Brown connection at head coach and GM.
Caldwell is a name that’s emerged as a serious candidate recently, which tracks with what ESPN’s Dan Graziano shared about favorites he’s been hearing about. Chicago could certainly do worse than Caldwell, but he’s not a long-term solution at coach.
Then there’s Frazier, who has been mentioned in conjunction with the Bears back when Matt Nagy was still on the hot seat. But following Buffalo’s defensive performance on Sunday night against the Chiefs, Bears fans want no part of Frazier.
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