While the head coach hiring cycle hasn't officially begun just yet, and won't likely heat up until the regular season is over, the Chicago Bears have already begun doing plenty of background work.
After firing Matt Eberflus, the Bears immediately had the most polarizing head coaching vacancy in the league.
Any head coaching candidate now has the opportunity to come into a position where the franchise quarterback is already established and on a rookie contract. In addition, the roster has a lot of strong building blocks on both sides of the ball.
Truly, the holes lie in the trenches. And that's going to be priority no. 1 throughout the offseason: building the trenches and becoming a more physical football team.
Now, knowing the Bears want to change the culture within Halas Hall with their next coaching hire, that muddies the waters a bit. On one hand, a lot of Bears fans want to see someone like Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson get the job. He'd be great for Caleb Williams and the offense.
But, would he inspire a real culture change? That's the question.
There are some candidates, out there, who would absolutely be able to accomplish that goal. And one of them appears to be a top candidate for the Bears, according to ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler.
The Bears will be in on Mike Vrabel as a top head coaching candidate for Chicago
In a recent podcast segment, Fowler went on record to describe what we already knew was true. The Bears need a culture change. But, he also noted that Chicago may truly value experience over other characteristics.
"I could see a Mike Vrabel being involved. I think he's going to be one of the stronger candidates, because he's proven," Fowler said.
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"Some people around the league believe the Bears will try to lean on experience a little bit, because the last hire didn't have that ... they want to see what someone can do who has gone through the process, not only knows how to lead but how to manage a game and how to get the best out of the roster," he went on.
Vrabel definitely fits that bill. He took some Titans teams to the playoffs when they really didn't have any business competing that far into the year. Ryan Tannehill was far from a franchise quarterback and he hardly had any weapons in the passing game.
But, between Vrabel's defense and ability to manage games, along with the ground game and Derrick Henry, those Titans teams were always competitive.
The real question after a Vrabel hire would be who he'd bring in to be the offensive coordinator. That's the big worry for Bears fans; ruining another young quarterback. Chicago cannot afford to hire the wrong guy again. Clearly, Shane Waldron was a mistake from the jump. Plenty of people could have predicted that.
Would Vrabel be able to get that hire right? If so, then big things could be in store for this Bears team.