The Chicago Bears are set to hire both a General Manager and head coach in the coming weeks. George McCaskey stated that he does not care whether the GM or HC comes first, but he would like for the GM to be involved in the head coach decision. He also noted that he wanted some sort of pairing so that the two came in at the same time with the same mindset and understanding.
With that in mind, there are a few combinations of both head coach and GM that do make sense when pressed together. Who are the most notable potential pairings and why do they fit?
5. General Manager Malik Boyd, Head Coach Leslie Frazier
Malik Boyd has not been discussed as a candidate for the Chicago Bears yet, but Leslie Frazier is already interviewing for the head coach job. A name that Frazier is very comfortable with is Malik Boyd.
Boyd is currently the Buffalo Bills Senior Director of Pro Personnel. He has been there with Frazier the entire time. However, the two actually go all the way back to 2005. In 2003, Boyd was hired by Bill Polian and Tony Dungy to be the Indianapolis Colts as a Scouting Assistant. In 2005, Polian and Dungy hired Frazier to be their defensive coordinator.
Seven years later, Boyd and Frazier meet up in Buffalo and the duo has spent five years together. This duo makes sense not only in the Bears’ interest in Frazier but the Bill Polian connection to Boyd.
Polian gave Boyd his first chance and Boyd has risen to the top, and now Polian is in charge of hiring the Chicago Bears next General Manager. He will surely be interested in Boyd. With Frazier already having smoke, the duo adds up.
4. General Manager Morocco Brown Head coach Matt Eberflus
This is another duo that makes plenty of sense in Chicago. First, the Chicago Bears already requested to interview Morocco Brown. Brown is a rising name for the Indianapolis Colts and has long ties to the Bears going back to 2001.
The hire would be Morocco Brown, and the name that he brings in is not necessarily tied to him, but Matt Eberflus has already been discussed nationally as a candidate for the Chicago Bears head coach.
Morocco Brown is involved in college scouting while Matt Eberflus is the defensive coordinator, so the duo has worked together for four straight drafts.
That means that these two collaborated on big selections such as Darius Leonard, Julian Blackmon, Grovert Stewart, and more.
Brown being comfortable, and obviously having a process to draft players is a start. Brown is already interviewing and Eberflus already has smoke around his name heading towards Chicago.
The duo would have to answer who are the offensive coaches, but they certainly have momentum in the eyes of George McCaskey.
3. General Manager Rex Hogan, Head Coach Todd Bowles
This one may take some thought, but the New York Jets assistant General Manager and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator do have ties.
Rex Hogan also is reportedly an interview candidate in Chicago and while Bowles has not been on any requests yet, his name is one of the hottest in the NFL coaching search.
Hogan has been climbing the ladder, and that meant two stops on the Jets at two different times. He was hired in 2015, left in 2017, and went back in 2029. In the meantime, he was given a promotion to join the Indianapolis Colts.
After his stint with the Colts, Joe Douglas promoted him to assistant GM in New York. However from 2015 through 2017, he was the Jets senior director of college scouting, and his head coach was Todd Bowles.
So, from senior director of college scouting to vice president of player personnel to assistant GM, the next step for Hogan is GM and he has climbed fast. The Bears have interest mainly because he was in the organization from 2003 through 2015, right before his ascension.
Considering his ties to Bowles, he would be the perfect candidate to ask if Bowles deserves another shot and got a raw deal in New York.
2. General Manager Ed Dodds, Head Coach Dan Quinn
This is another one where the two are not necessarily tied through a team as of right now, but you could put plenty of pieces together. Dodds has been with the Colts since 2017, but from 2007 through 2016 he was with the Seattle Seahawks for a few legendary draft classes.
Dodds of course worked with Dan Quinn, who was the Seahawks defensive coordinator from 2009-10 and 2013-14. The two helped assemble a world-class defense that won a Super Bowl
Now, the two are rising up the charts with different organizations. Dodds has been patient and has turned down GM requests, knowing he has security in Indy. Did a loss to the Jaguars change that?
Dan Quinn had a rough end to his Atlanta tenure but revived himself in 2021 with Dallas, and a lot of his issues can personnel driven. With Dodds being the personnel master, and Quinn already showing he can work well with Dodds, could the two team up? Would a familiar face like Quinn make Dodds realize this job is the one for him?
1. General Manager Brian Gaine, Head Coach Brian Daboll
Brian Gaine is a Senior personnel advisor for the Buffalo Bills. He was with the Bills before and took the Texans GM job back in 2018 when he was a hot name. However, he immediately clashed with Bill O’Brien and lasted a little over a year with the Texans.
Given that was his first GM job and we saw how O’Brien ended, maybe we can give Gaine the benefit of the doubt. Every other stop has been great and he was looked at as a great hire back in 2018.
The good thing about Gaine is that he has a relationship with Brian Daboll, a noted coaching candidate. The two have been together in Buffalo since 2019, but beyond that Daboll and Gaine were both younger and rising up their own ranks in 2011 with the Miami Dolphins.
The two obviously have a relationship together and both bring a lot of experience from plenty of different areas. Gaine was a hot GM candidate and the wrong franchise killed his buzz while Daboll has been a head coach candidate that has been looking for the right fit for a few years now. The duo could come into Chicago together with familiarity and experience.