The Chicago Bears only informed Matt Nagy that he was being fired today, but they had made their decision around Thanksgiving. With that in mind, ownership certainly has a small list of head coaching candidates that they are interested in. One name has popped up through multiple circles and starting to get legitimate smoke.
Earlier last week, Albert Breer of SI.com reported that he had heard that the Bears were very interested in Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. From Breer:
"George McCaskey has been very involved in the NFL’s diversity efforts, and the league has been bullish on the candidacy of Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Frazier, a star corner on the vaunted 1985 Bears defense, has been raised to me repeatedly"
This certainly set off some alarms, but Breer had mentioned a few other names, and the team had not even told Nagy his fate yet. However, now that Matt Nagy has been fired, there is more smoke pointing to Leslie Frazier being a top candidate.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN said the same.
Chris Mortensen on NFL Radio just now: "I think you need to keep an eye on Leslie Frazier as a candidate for the Chicago Bears."
— Slavko Bekovic (@SBekovic) January 10, 2022
Breer is one of the nation’s top insiders in the NFL these days and has his own weekly column to unload information. Still, Mortensen is even more respected as a journalist.
He has earned long-time trust because he consistently gets his stuff right, and he is always plugged in.
This would be interesting hire for the Chicago Bears. As noted, he has ties to the organization, and this would be his second time as an NFL head coach. The experience could come in handy.
The question would come down to the offensive coordinator, though. The team has to prioritize Justin Fields, and Frazier would have to come in with strong coaching staff in mind, because he would be looked to as more of a CEO, or if anything a defensive-minded name.
The move would make sense in the idea that Lovie Smith was a defensive coach, then they went offense with Marc Trestman, back to defense with John Fox, and then offense with Matt Nagy. Now, they want another defensive head coach.