The Chicago Bears are one of seven teams currently looking to fill their head coaching vacancies. The Bears are one of only two teams currently looking to fill their general manager position. This is important as the team will most likely look to fill that position before hiring a head coach. We can speculate that the team plans to decide on a general manager by Thursday since Jason La Canfora reported today that the Bears plan to interview Brian Flores on Friday.
When it comes to the list of candidates the team has reportedly requested interviews from, it definitely makes me feel better about the hiring process overall. Many of the names on their coaching list were guys I was interested in. Only one of them is in my top five, but I had a few of them as notable mentions.
The Chicago Bears need to stay away from these coaches
Looking at the list, there are a few candidates who should not be considered. When it comes to NFL franchises, there is never just one way of doing things. That said, when we look at the current makeup of which teams are in the playoffs and which teams couldn’t cut it, one glaring thing seems to stand out — offensive-minded coaches are dominating.
Out of the 14 teams currently in the playoffs, 10 of them have offensive-minded coaches and only four have defensive-minded coaches. Of those four, that includes Mike Tomlin and Bill Belichick who are both Hall of Fame coaches. Even the teams that were on the bubble – the majority of them were led by offensive-minded coaches.
I am on record for saying I would be okay with certain defensive-minded coaches the Bears are looking to interview. However, the more and more I look into everything, I just cannot wrap my head around that idea. Because of this, I think the team needs to stay away from these three coaches.
The Chicago Bears should not hire Todd Bowles
Even though I had Todd Bowles on my “notable mentions” list, I cannot support the idea of him being the next head coach of the Chicago Bears. Todd Bowles could be a solid head coach if he’s learned from his mistakes with the Jets and lands the perfect offensive coordinator. The problem is landing that coordinator has proven to be the demise of most defensive-minded head coaches.
Bowles had one decent season with the Jets and the rest were just awful. Having Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown and Sam Darnold as a rookie is not an easy task to overcome offensively, but I don’t want to see the Bears follow suit, even if I fully believe in Justin Fields.
We could see Bowles land a solid offensive coordinator, and then next year that coordinator is coveted and signed to be a head coach somewhere else. Then, this team is back at square one on the offensive side of the ball with a new offense. This revolving door situation is not sustainable for most coaches. Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin are some of the exceptions who have a great staff working for them. I don’t trust Todd Bowles to build that here. I like Bowles, but no.
The Chicago Bears shouldn’t even interview Leslie Frazier
The Chicago Bears need to stay away from Leslie Frazier. Let’s just remember him as the former player he was, but he’s not the answer here as head coach for the Bears. Out of all of the candidates being interviewed, Leslie Frazier is my least favorite.
We just saw four years of Matt Nagy as head coach and the offense, his bread and butter, never came to fruition. The Bears were not in the top half of teams statistically on offense in any category with Matt Nagy running the show. Well, flip that here with Leslie Frazier on the defensive side of the ball.
When Frazier was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 2011 through 2013, the Vikings’ best season was 2012 when the defense ranked 16th in yards allowed and 14th in points allowed. In his other seasons as head coach, the defense was never better than 21st in yards allowed and 31st in points allowed. The team won three games in 2011 and five games in 2013.
Frazier is a great defensive coordinator, but that is all he should ever be in the NFL. Just say no to Leslie Frazier.
Unfortunately, Brian Flores should not be the Chicago Bears coach either
Look. When I first heard that the Dolphins were firing Brian Flores, I was shocked. I think Flores is a very good head coach. I think he has the ability to lead a team and inspire his players to a point that they go out and play hard every week. He is also like Matt Nagy in this way, but I do believe he holds his players more accountable than Nagy. As the theme goes in this article though, I just cannot get behind the idea of finding a new offensive coordinator year in and year out.
Flores helped turn the Dolphins around rather quickly despite a weird quarterback situation — a situation he played a big part in by the way. It has been proven that Brian Flores wanted Justin Herbert, but his general manager Chris Grier drafted Tua Tagolvailoa instead. I understand that he didn’t get what he wanted, but at the same time, he should also have been more open to working with Tagovailoa. Rumors are that the two didn’t get along enough.
That relationship may have played a big part in the swapping back and forth of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tagovailoa starting in the 2020 season. The team found a way to win 10 games despite the weird dynamic but still failed to make the playoffs. The Chicago Bears do not need this type of drama. Not to mention, many of the wins that the Dolphins had been against inferior opponents. Wins over the Jaguars and two versus the Jets helped. This year, it was even more obvious.
At one point this year, the team lost seven games in a row. Sound familiar? After starting the season with a one-point win over the Patriots, the Dolphins started the year 1-7. I give Brian Flores credit for helping turn that team around, but their eight wins to finish the season came against the Houston Texans, Jets, an awful Panthers team, the Giants, the Jets again, and a Saints team led by rookie quarterback Ian Book.
Again, I believe that Brian Flores is a great coach. He deserves to be in the running but I am not hiring him. I am not sure I’d even interview him. It’s not his fault that he’s a defensive-minded head coach. It’s like a running back in the NFL. There are great running backs, but history has proven they are not worth overpaying. Well, that’s where I’m at with defensive-minded coaches. They aren’t worth hiring here in Chicago. Not to mention, rumors are Flores had issues with many on his staff. We don’t need that drama and turnover here.
The Chicago Bears might be stuck with Matt Eberflus as head coach
Here is the situation we are in. I really, really want Ed Dodds as the Chicago Bears’ next general manager. He is one of two guys I am very excited about. I am working on my tiered rankings and already tweeted them out if you can’t wait to see them in full written form. When I think of Dodds as the next general manager, it is hard to imagine he doesn’t view current Colts, defensive coordinator, Matt Eberflus as a top coaching candidate.
Matt Eberflus is a great defensive coordinator. He has turned the Colts’ defense into a dominant unit. They have averaged a top-12 finish in yards allowed and a top-11 finish in points allowed over the last four years with Eberflus running the show. This year the defense was eighth in defensive DVOA. Last year they were seventh. They struggled in 2019 and finished 18th, but in 2018 they were 11th. He is a great defensive coach — I just don’t want him as a head coach.
I continue to stand by this fact and will release my ranking of the head coaches who I want based on the current list of guys being interviewed. Don’t be surprised if all of the defensive-minded coaches end up at the very bottom. The only reason I am considering Eberflus as the next head coach is if that guarantees Ed Dodds is the next general manager. Even then, I think I’d take my runner-up GM if it means he comes with an offensive-minded head coach.
Dan Quinn is also a coach the Chicago Bears should stay away from
Alright, here is the only guy I might consider from this list based on prior experience, but again I am just saying no. Just like Leslie Frazier, the Atlanta Falcons defense was not great while Quinn was a head coach. They had one good year during his six years as the Falcons head coach. The other five years, the defense was in the bottom third of the league statistically.
The offense was shockingly very good during his time. This is partly due to having Matt Ryan at quarterback and also having Kyle Shanahan (proven great offensive mind) as the offensive coordinator. The offense took a decent dip in 2018 when Shanahan left and Steve Sarkisian took over.
This is why it’s very important to have a top offensive coordinator if the head coach is not an offensive-minded guy. Even if an offensive coordinator leaves under an offensive-minded coach, typically the overall mindset on offense doesn’t drastically change. This is key for a young quarterback who is still developing and a big reason why I don’t want any of these coaches.