Eight days have come and gone since the Chicago Bears sent Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy packing. They don’t have replacements for either yet, but the Bears have certainly been piling up the interview requests. And that isn’t inconsequential.
Unlike the last GM search, this process seems to be more exhaustive and wide-ranging. That might make some uneasy, especially those of us looking to get the bad taste of that press conference out of our mouth. Plus, we’ve been discussing the possibility of replacing Pace and Nagy for pretty much all of 2021. But it will come.
It just might take a bit. And I think I’m OK with that (for now). In the meantime, let’s run down a list of known candidates.
P.S. The Bears have reportedly decided to hire a GM before hiring a head coach.
Head Coach Candidates Who Have Officially Interviewed
รขโฌยข Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles – Head Coach, 2016-2020) (Jan. 12)
รขโฌยข Brian Flores (Miami Dolphins – Head Coach, 2019-21) (Jan. 14)
รขโฌยข Nathaniel Hackett (Green Bay Packers – Offensive Coordinator) (Jan. 15)
รขโฌยข Jim Caldwell (Indianapolis Colts Head Coach, 2009-11; Detroit Lions Head Coach, 2014-17) (Jan. 15)
รขโฌยข Brian Daboll (Buffalo Bills – Offensive Coordinator) (Jan. 16)
รขโฌยข Matt Eberflus (Indianapolis Colts – Defensive Coordinator) (Jan. 17)
รขโฌยข Byron Leftwich (Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Offensive Coordinator) (Jan. 20)
รขโฌยข Leslie Frazier (Buffalo Bills – Defensive Coordinator) (Jan. 21)
รขโฌยข Dan Quinn (Dallas Cowboys – Defensive Coordinator) (Jan. 22, per ESPN’s Ed Werder)
รขโฌยข Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Defensive Coordinator) (Jan. 22)
Head Coach Candidates Who Have Yet to Interview
รขโฌยข Dennis Allen (New Orleans Saints Defensive Coordinator)
Head Coach Candidates Set Up For Second Interviews
รขโฌยข Jim Caldwell
รขโฌยข Dan Quinn
รขโฌยข Matt Eberflus
General Manager Candidates Who Have Officially Interviewed
รขโฌยข Glenn Cook (Cleveland Browns – Vice President of Player Personnel) (Jan. 12)
รขโฌยข Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (Cleveland Browns – Vice President of Football Operations) (Jan. 13)
รขโฌยข Champ Kelly (Chicago Bears – Assistant General Manager) (Jan. 13)
รขโฌยข Jeff Ireland (New Orleans Saints – Assistant General Manager) (Jan. 14)
รขโฌยข Monti Ossenfort (Tennessee Titans – Director of Player Personnel) (Jan. 15)
รขโฌยข Eliot Wolf (New England Patriots – Director of Scouting) (Jan. 18)
รขโฌยข Ran Carthon (San Francisco 49ers – Director of Player Personnel) (Jan. 19)
รขโฌยข Reggie McKenzie (Miami Dolphins – VP of Football and Business Administration) (Jan. 20)
รขโฌยข Ryan Poles (Kansas City Chiefs – Executive Director of Player Personnel) (Jan. 21, with a second interview coming)
General Manager Candidates Who Have Yet to Interview
รขโฌยข Morocco Brown (Indianapolis Colts – Director of College Scouting)
รขโฌยข Omar Khan (Pittsburgh Steelers – VP of Football and Business Administration)
รขโฌยข Rick Smith (Houston Texans – Executive Vice President of Football Operations, 2006-17)
รขโฌยข JoJo Wooden (Los Angeles Chargers – Director of Player Personnel)
No Longer a Candidate
รขโฌยข Joe Schoen (Buffalo Bills – Assistant General Manager) โ Hired by Giants on Jan. 21
รขโฌยข Ed Dodds (Indianapolis Colts – Assistant General Manager) (Jan. 17) โ Withdrew from candidacy on Jan. 19
We’ll keep refreshing this list with updated links and names when things become officially official.