Bears Complete Interviews With Byron Leftwich & Reggie McKenzie

January 20, 2022

The Chicago Bears announced Thursday night that they’ve completed interviews with Reggie McKenzie for their GM vacancy and Buccaneers OC Byron Leftwich for their head-coaching job.

Here are the updated searches for the Bears’ jobs:

Head Coach:

Colts DC Matt Eberflus (Finalist)
Former Eagles HC Doug Pederson (Interviewed)
Bills OC Brian Daboll (Interviewed)
Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett (Interviewed)
Former Dolphins HC Brian Flores (Interviewed)
Former Lions HC Jim Caldwell (Interviewed)
Buccaneers OC Byron Leftwich (Interviewed)
Buccaneers DC Todd Bowles (Scheduled)
Bills DC Leslie Frazier (Scheduled)
Cowboys DC Dan Quinn (Requested)

General Manager:

Browns VP of Player Personnel Glenn Cook (Interviewed)
Browns VP of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (Interviewed)
Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds (Interviewed)
Saints’ assistant GM Jeff Ireland (Interviewed)
Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen (Interviewed)
Patriots executive consultant Eliot Wolf (Interviewed)
Bears assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly (Interviewed)
Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort (Interviewed)
Dolphins senior personnel executive Reggie McKenzie (Interviewed)
Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown (Requested)
49ers director of player personnel Ran Carthon (Requested)
Former Texans GM Rick Smith
Steelers VP Omar Khan (Requested)
Chargers Director of Player Personnel JoJo Wooden (Requested)
Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles (Requested)

Leftwich, 40, is a former first-round pick of the Jaguars back in 2003. He spent four years in Jacksonville before playing for a number of teams including the Falcons, Steelers and Buccaneers.

The Cardinals hired Leftwich as a coaching intern during training camp in 2016 before promoting him to QBs coach. After Arizona fired Mike McCoy, Leftwich was promoted to offensive coordinator. He was fired after the 2018 season, however, and caught on with the Buccaneers.

In 2021, the Buccaneers rank No. 2 in total offense, No. 1 in passing yards and No. 25 in rushing, and No. 2 in points per game.

McKenzie, 55, is a former 10th-round pick of the Raiders back in 1985. He played for the Raiders, Cardinals, and 49ers before becoming an NFL executive in 1994.

After 18 years in Green Bay, McKenzie was hired by the Raiders as their GM in 2012. He was fired from his position with the Raiders when Jon Gruden took full control of the organization.

During his six years in Oakland, McKenzie’s teams have gone 39-70 including one playoff appearance.