The Chicago Bears' embarrassing Week 14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers all but confirmed that Thomas Brown is facing an uphill climb toward having the interim label removed from his role on the team's coaching staff.
Brown's interim head coaching debut could not have gone any worse with the team's first-half futility being another sign that Ryan Poles may not be the mastermind that some Bears fans claim him to be.
Poles status as the Bears' general manager is going to play a major factor in the team's search for a new head coach. The top head coaching candidates are not going to want to come to the Bears, even with Caleb Williams as the team's quarterback, if Poles is on the hot seat.
This means that if the Bears are going to attract candidates, they may need to hand Poles an extension. An extension that wouldn't be deserved if simply look at how his free agency, trade, and draft decisions have played out.
The Bears may want Mike Vrabel, who may not want Ryan Poles.
Along those lines, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported on Sunday that the Bears want to interview former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel, a current consultant for the Cleveland Browns, is expected to be among the top coaching candidates this cycle.
Unlike Bill Belichick, who may be headed to North Carolina, Jones notes that Vrabel has no interest in coaching at the college ranks. Jones has Vrabel eyeing his next head coaching role at the NFL level but he is wanting to be paired with a veteran general manager.
The Bears continue to muddy the waters with the lack of alignment they have within the power positions in their organization. Last offseason represented the perfect scenario for Poles to align the head coach with the quarterback position. Now, Poles, who may be on the hot seat by the end of the season, will need to find a head coach candidate comfortable with his boss not having the greatest of job security while also coaching a quarterback who they weren't a part of the evaluation of. Williams' talent will likely outweigh that last point, but Poles, as a general manager, does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.