NEWSLETTER
A complete house cleaning is underway at Halas Hall. Three football seasons have passed since Matt Nagy, and Ryan Pace won top honors for their efforts in leading the 2018 Chicago Bears to a 12-4 record and NFC North title, and the time has come for the franchise to find their replacements.
Despite this team’s issues, the head coach and general manager vacancies are highly sought-after. And with Super Bowl-winning Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian lending a helping hand, the Bears are in a position to make some impact hirings. Over the following days, weeks, or however long it takes, we’ll be diving into the top available candidates, including their history, what they offer schematically, how they fit culturally, where they can take this team, and more. Let’s do it.
Previous Head Coach Candidates: Doug Pederson, Nathaniel Hackett, Brian Daboll, Brian Flores, Matt Eberflus, Dan Quinn, Byron Leftwich, Leslie Fraizer, Todd Bowles, Jim Caldwell
Previous General Manager Candidates: Glenn Cook, Jeff Ireland, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Ran Carthon, Joe Schoen (Hired by NYG on 1/21), Eliot Wolf, Omar Khan, Reggie McKenzie
Name, Current Team, and Position
Monti Ossenfort, Tenessee Titans, Director of Player Personnel (2020-present)
Relevant Experience
• New England Patriots Director of College Scouting (2014-19)
• New England Patriots Assistant Director of College Scouting (2011-13)
• New England Patriots National Scout (2009-10)
• New England Patriots Area Scout (2006-08)
• Houston Texans College Scout (2005)
• Houston Texans Pro and College Scouting Assistant (2004)
• New England Patriots Personnel Assistant (2003)
• Houston Texans Pro Personnel Intern (2001)
Existing Rumors and Bears Ties
Monti Ossenfort, the Titans Director of Player Personnel, first interviewed with the Bears on January 15 and is one of three GM candidates reportedly getting second interviews with the Bears (along with the Chiefs’ Ryan Poles, who was picked up by George McCaskey at O’Hare … actually … and New Englands’ Eliot Wolf).
Patriots' Eliot Wolf, Chiefs' Ryan Poles and Titans' Monti Ossenfort expected for second interviews for Bears' GM vacancy, per @RapSheet + @MikeGarafolohttps://t.co/tZAwap7uLb pic.twitter.com/fq8RLtwd5o
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) January 25, 2022
Potential Fit
Ossenfort brings 21 years of NFL experience to the table, including the last two as Titans Director of Player Personnel. Before taking the job with the Titans, Ossenfort spent 17 seasons with the New England Patriots (2003-19), the final six of which as their Director of College Scouting.
Before his time in New England, Ossenfort served as a scouting assistant with the Houston Texans in 2002 and broke into the league as a training camp intern with the Minnesota Vikings in 2001. Jeff Hughes reported two days after Ossenfot’s first interview with the Bears that Chicago’s search team was impressed with Ossenfort.
It’s hard for GM candidates to break through in these interviews. But I think Glenn Cook and Monti Ossenfort did.
More to come…
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 17, 2022
Ossenfort, like Poles and Wolf, is cut from the scouting and personnel side of things which indicates that the Bears are looking to hire someone with a heavy background in scouting and personnel for their GM position. Ossenfort spent 17 years in the Patriots organization, most of it in the college scouting department.
In The End …
If the Bears are looking for a GM with a scouting background, Ossenfort seems like an ideal fit. He impressed the Bears enough to get a second interview, but so did Ryan Poles and Eliot Wolf, who have similar backgrounds. I’d have to imagine that Morocco Brown will be getting a second interview, as well, and Brown has a similar background to Ossenfort with much of his time being spent in the college scouting side of things.
With second interviews for the vacant GM position getting started, we’re inching closer to a conclusion in the search for the next football boss in Chicago, and we now have an idea of the type of background and experience that the Bears are looking for in that hire. The pieces to the puzzle are coming together.
