CHICAGO — In the span of seven months, the Chicago Bears have gone from the best situation a No. 1 rookie quarterback has ever been in to the most attractive head coaching position in the next hiring cycle .
Life happens quickly. The NFL is moving faster.
At least the Bears are in the conversation for a new superlative, one that has nothing to do with performance on the field or their 4-9 record and seven-game losing streak as they prepare for the game Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings at US Bank. Stadium.
New North Carolina Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick and his close circle of trusted football advisers have put the Bears at the top of the job offer list, according to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham. It’s a small achievement at this point, as the serially dysfunctional New York Jets and New Orleans Saints, who are entering salary cap hell, are the only other teams led by interim coaches who enter week 15.
It stands to reason that Belichick and others might view the Bears job as the best situation when the layoff cycle is complete in January. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants could find themselves looking for a head coach. In Dallas, Mike McCarthy is in the last year of his contract. You can’t rule out the possibility of a surprise move or two by other franchises. Add it up and six to eight teams will be looking for their next coach.
What’s crazy is that the Bears are going from having an ideal setup in place for Caleb Williams to a preferred destination for top coaching candidates as the losses mount. It seems incongruous that one would lead to the other. What needs to be untangled is how the Bears went from a great situation for Williams to an upset at Halas Hall as offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired Nov. 12, coach Matt Eberflus was fired just 17 days later and the slide continues.
Williams is the Bears’ biggest selling point, a young talent capable of becoming a franchise quarterback. Even with the ups and downs of his rookie season, he’s on pace to total 3,590 yards and 21 touchdowns. He has completed 255 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, which is especially notable because often when young quarterbacks are routinely pressured — Williams has been sacked a league-high 56 times, 15 more than second-place CJ Stroud — they become a turnover. machines.
Williams is going to make the job interesting for potential rookies, as many restarting teams are in quarterback purgatory or perhaps holding on to a highly drafted player who has struggled – much like Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields after the Bears traded coaches after their rookie. seasons. This doesn’t overstate Williams’ performance this season. There’s not only room for growth; he must make the necessary improvements. But the quarterback situation with almost every other team will be murky at best and much worse in negative terms.
“They have the quarterback in place if they can find the right coach,” one assistant general manager said. “That’s the half of the equation, the half that’s been impossible for the Bears all along.”
The Bears’ situation seemed ideal for Williams from a team perspective that had an abundance of talent that could help him shine, throwing the ball to receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze and tight end Cole Kmet. Running back D’Andre Swift and even tight end Gerald Everett, on paper, have set the Bears up to have a potentially potent offense.
The line struggled through performance and then injuries. The defense, since the Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders, has not been as effective as it was in the second half of last season. A series of fourth-quarter failures in four games doomed the season.
As the Bears prepare for a rematch against the Vikings – they lost 30-27 in overtime in Week 12 at Soldier Field – they can take comfort in the fact that the first three NFC North games have been decided by a total of seven points.
“We’re not far from it at all,” Kmet said. “You’re talking about a handful of games between us competing for a playoff spot. In reality, only a handful of pieces.
It’s the familiar underdog lament in a league in which elite teams find ways to win close games in crunch time, but it’s a valid argument if you’re looking for signs that the team might be quickly turned in the right direction.
More important than having the most attractive option is for the Bears to find the best coach who fits their needs. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell was hired in the 2022 cycle in which the Bears selected Eberflus. He’s easily the best rookie that year, and the Vikings didn’t have the most attractive landing spot.
In a poll I conducted of 19 veteran coaches, league executives and agents who represented coaches that year, the Vikings position ranked fourth out of seven teams with vacancies. The Bears were sixth.
Minnesota was in the middle of the pack because most were unsure of former quarterback Kirk Cousins’ long-term prospects.
“It’s a much better situation than the Jaguars, but Cousins and his cap hit and the consistency situation is going to be tough to solve,” one front office veteran said.
“It’s a bigger rebuild than you probably think, but the stadium and facilities are top-notch and the owners aren’t afraid to pay for the players,” said a professional personnel director.
The fact is the Vikings got the right recruiting with O’Connell, who is 31-16 overall and 11-2 this season with Sam Darnold as the starting quarterback. The Bears can’t count on what could be the most coveted position to bring them the best candidate. They need to identify who that coach is and figure out how a vision for success at Halas Hall can be aligned.
“I think the biggest thing is I know, with the roster we have right now, exactly what this team needs because of the core group that we have,” general manager Ryan Poles said after the dismissal of Eberflus. “Before, it wasn’t really – figuring out who was going to be here – it was a really difficult situation to be in.” So knowing exactly the core of our team and what traits are going to help this team become a championship caliber team.
The Vikings with O’Connell, the Detroit Lions with Dan Campbell and the Green Bay Packers with Matt LaFleur all hit home runs by hiring coaches. The Bears also have a lot to overcome in this process. They have had a winless season in 12 of the last 14 years. What was supposed to be a season in which they became competitive turned out embarrassingly.
The Bears can’t go to the plate and settle for a single or even a double as they consider hiring a coach if they want to break out of this cycle. They need to knock one out to gain ground in the league’s toughest division, because nothing about their situation — another last place finish in the NFC North — is appealing.
Reconnaissance report
Jonathan Greenard, Vikings outside linebacker
Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts.
Greenard, 6-foot-3, 259 pounds, is in his first season with the Vikings after signing him in free agency, adding him to a four-year, $76 million contract after four seasons with the Houston Texans .
Greenard exploded in 2023 with a career-high 12 1/2 sacks and was as good or better in Brian Flores’ scheme with the Vikings. Two of his team-leading 10 sacks came against the Bears last month at Soldier Field, and he committed three forced fumbles and two pass deflections. Greenard was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for the Vikings, who have won six straight games.
“His tape last year was really good,” the recruiter said. “I saw him as a really hard worker and a guy who puts a lot of effort into the game. Never stops. But I didn’t know if he had enough counterattack and enough traits to consistently be that type of double-digit sack. When Minnesota signed him, I said, “Man, he got paid well.” The Vikings obviously saw a group in him, and then Minnesota went out and drafted Dallas Turner to try to bolster their edge rushers after Danielle Hunter left.
“Greenard is creating chaos right now. He is extremely fast with the ball. He’s gotten to the point where he can showcase his lower body flexibility in order to continue to improve. He’s really good at getting the edge on the offensive tackle, getting underneath him and then leaning really hard on the quarterback. He’s also better against the run than I expected. He’s a three-man who doesn’t have elite physical tools but can play like him at times. Thanks to Minnesota and really to him for his development as a player. He is now playing a starring role.
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