One head coaching vacancy closed Sunday when the New England Patriots hired Mike Vrabel and another could potentially open soon with Mike McCarthy’s contract in Dallas set to expire Tuesday.
All of the movement affects the Chicago Bears’ process in one way or another as they prepare for more head coach candidate interviews. A week after the season ended with a 24-22 upset of the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, the team announced Sunday it completed an in-person interview with Ron Rivera, the team’s former linebacker and defensive coordinator, at Halas Hall.
Rivera is the eighth candidate the team has announced an interview with and it is believed the club already met with Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, who would be a ninth interview. Seven more candidates will become available for interviews this week — and the club figures to circle back with interim coach Thomas Brown at some point.
NFL Network reported Sunday the Bears are interested in meeting with Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, who the team drafted as a linebacker out of Ohio State in the fifth round in 2009. There’s no way that would happen until after the college national championship game on Jan. 20.
Freeman received a contract extension from Notre Dame last month that runs through the 2030 season and reportedly makes him one of the highest-earning coaches in the college ranks. It’s likely a buyout to get Freeman, 39, out of South Bend, Ind., would be very large.
“I don’t know what it’s like in the NFL, right?” Freeman said last month on the “Outta Pocket” podcast with Robert Griffin III. “I spent one year there, I don’t know what that life is like. This is the life I’ve been coaching for 15, 16 years now, and it’s a joy.”
It remains to be seen if the Bears are interested in Freeman or if he’s interested in them. It’s not like he can leverage an NFL opportunity for more money as his new contract was just negotiated. It used to be college coaches would rarely interview for other jobs in the NCAA or NFL unless they were confident they’d get it. Some believe in the NIL era — with players able to move freely — that has evolved. Many figure it’s highly unlikely the Bears would land Freeman.
The Cowboys are worth monitoring for multiple reasons. The Bears reportedly requested permission to interview McCarthy and were denied but if he doesn’t get a new contract from owner Jerry Jones before his deal expires, he will become a free agent and would be able to meet in person with the Bears or any other team. If that happened, the Cowboys would become the sixth team searching for a coach joining the Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets.
General manager Ryan Poles pledged the Bears would cast a wide net to consider a diverse group of candidates that would include unexpected names. It’s a fluid process and some names who have been linked to the team could fall off while others could be added or go unreported altogether.
The Bears have been linked to seven candidates employed by teams participating in wild-card weekend. The earliest the team can virtually meet with those candidates is Tuesday. That list includes:
- Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator
- Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos defensive coordinator
- Kliff Kingsbury, Washington Commanders offensive coordinator
- Todd Monken, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator
- David Shaw, Broncos senior personnel executive
- Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator
Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores is not available until Wednesday because the Vikings play Monday night.
The virtual interview process to this point has been as Poles and President/CEO Kevin Warren described. One source said a candidate’s virtual interview was spent mostly with the group the team detailed — Poles, Warren, chairman George McCaskey, senior director of player personnel Jeff King, special advisor Ted Crews and HR head Liz Geist. There was individual time for just the candidate and Poles, and the candidate had a window where he met with only Warren and McCaskey.
Virtual interviews have been conducted with former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, offensive coordinators Ben Johnson (Detroit Lions), Mike Kafka (New York Giants) and Drew Petzing (Arizona Cardinals) and defensive coordinators Aaron Glenn (Lions) and Anthony Weaver (Miami Dolphins). Vrabel also had a virtual interview but the Patriots moved quickly to fill their vacancy.
Johnson, the architect of the league’s highest-scoring offense, remains the hot name to watch, especially with Vrabel no longer in play. Johnson interviewed with the Jaguars and Raiders and now turns his focus to a divisional-round playoff game against the Washington Commanders on Saturday at Ford Field.
While the Bears have a roster that includes quarterback Caleb Williams, the Jaguars and the Raiders might offer more flexibility in terms of football operations. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is coming off an injury-marred season but was solid in 2022 and 2023 and there are coaches who could view him with upside. Jaguars owner Shad Khan publicly indicated he would not rule out replacing GM Trent Baalke.
Some are wondering if Las Vegas, after years of turmoil, can emerge as a preferred destination. The Raiders have rolled through head coaches at a higher rate than the Bears since McCaskey took over at Halas Hall in 2011. While the Bears have had six coaches in that span, including Brown, the Raiders have employed eight and five of those lasted two seasons or less.
But Las Vegas could be a potential player for a legitimate top coach this time solely based on Tom Brady’s role. NFL owners voted in October to approve Brady as a minority owner — he reportedly has a 5% stake — and those informed of Raiders’ happenings believe the future Hall of Famer has a much bigger role in the club’s direction than his share would indicate.
Las Vegas fired coach Antonio Pierce and two days later dumped general manager Tom Telesco, choosing to completely overhaul the football operation. If it was a search being run on the whim of owner Mark Davis, the Raiders would be an afterthought for candidates with more attractive offers. That might not be the case in this cycle.
“Brady and these other investors, it’s been completely turned over to them,” one source said. “It’s an absolute and complete rebuild and in a lot of ways that is attractive. You’re taking a leap of faith if you go anywhere. Would you want to be tied to the hip of Brady? There’s a whole new thing there that is more attractive than you might think.”
If someone sees a path to landing a quarterback — the Raiders own the sixth pick in the draft — and are enamored by the idea of potentially having input on Las Vegas’ GM hire, it might make sense. But it’s not like the clock has been rolled back and Brady is going to suddenly be in uniform.
The Bears appear committed to their process, which will have them busy in the days to come with more virtual interviews. Candidates employed by other clubs cannot meet in person until Jan. 20.
By then, Poles, Warren and McCaskey will be armed with a lot of information. They ought to have a good idea of what direction they are leaning or what the list of candidates for second interviews will look like.
