NEWSLETTER
Well, then.
The Chicago Bears front office reportedly already has a list of names to target for the team’s potential future opening at head coach, according to sources that have spoken with Greg Gabriel of Pro Football Weekly.
Head Coach John Fox’s placement on the hot seat has been firm for some time and calls for his firing intensified after a disappointing 28-point loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Players have come to Fox’s defense in recent weeks, but by Gabriel’s account, it is all but certain he will play out his string as Bears’ head coach in the season’s final five games.
One name not on the list is Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio, who has been seen as a popular candidate to replace Fox in-season if GM Ryan Pace decided to go that route. Gabriel’s sources indicate Fangio isn’t on Pace’s radar because his name isn’t on the front office’s list of interview candidates, and a successful audition could pressure Pace into prematurely giving him the full-time job even if he doesn’t feel he is the right guy for it.
That Pace and the front office have a list of names already in mind suggests this could be a quick process. After all, Pace wasn’t in total control of the head coaching hunt that led to Fox’s hiring. If you’ll recall, George McCaskey hired Ernie Accorsi as a consultant who helped guide the team to Pace … and eventually Fox. Parting ways with Fox would give Pace his shot to run the search as he sees fit without outside interference.
Fox is 12-31 since taking over for Marc Trestman in 2015 and has been on the hot seat since the start of the year. Signing Mike Glennon as a place-holder in an attempt to be competitive while draft pick Mitch Trubisky developed and adding a handful of veterans with starting experience to plug holes and add depth to the roster hasn’t come with winning results.
However, it appears the end result could come in the kind of change Bears fans are pining for at season’s end.
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