Bears HC Rumors

By
Nate Bouda
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Update:

Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune reports that new Bears GM Ryan Pace was believed to be in Denver on Thursday, which is likely a sign of the team courting former Broncos HC John Fox.

According to Campbell, “all indications remain strong” that Fox will soon be hired as the team’s next head coach, once they come to an agreement on a contract.

Campbell mentions that the belief right now is that the Bears are still aiming to seal the deal with Fox at some point in the near future.

Pace is expected to be back in Chicago on Friday and it remains unclear whether or not his visit to Denver had anything to do with a follow up interview for Fox.

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Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that there is no agreement in place between the Bears and John Fox as of now.

  • According to Florio, new Bears GM Ryan Pace is “taking him time” when it comes to hiring their next head coach. .
  • Florio adds that a deal could very well be in place soon as Fox remains the favorite for the job.

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Jason Cole, citing an NFL executive source, the Bears are likely to be the next NFL team to hire a head coach. According to Cole, former Broncos HC John Fox is “getting the Bears job.”

Cole adds that there are still details to be figured out and a contract has yet to be signed with Fox.

However, Cole’s source mentions that Fox will be joining the Bears and get the opportunity to coach QB Jay Cutler next year. The expectation from the Bears is that Fox’s “positive attitude” will work well with Cutler.

Cole expects the deal to be in place in the next day or so.

  • A veteran NFL source tells John Mullin of CSN Chicago reports that “the Bears job is John’s if he wants it.”
  • According to Mullin, Fox is believed to be close to a deal with the Bears to be their next head coach. But, Mullin adds that nothing is definitive, as long as negotiations are ongoing.
  • Lions DC Teryl Austin interviewed with the Bears on Tuesday, but Mullin mentions that he is considered a “longshot” to get the job.

There has been plenty of talk that Fox could be the favorite to land the Bears’ coaching job given that they’ve hired a first-time GM in Ryan Pace, who has ties to Fox.

Last night, Jason La Canfora mentioned that he “very much” expects the Fox to hire Kyle Shanahan and Dennis Allen as his coordinators if he gets the Bears job.

We’ll have more updates as the news is available.

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Jeff Darlington of NFL Media believes former Broncos HC John Fox has a “strong chance” of landing the Bears head-coaching job based on his “very, very close in-roads” to new Bears GM Ryan Pace.

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Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports that former Broncos HC John Fox will interview for the Bears head-coaching vacancy on Wednesday.

Jason La Canfora reports that Fox could target Kyle Shanahan to be his offensive coordinator in Chicago if he gets the Bears job.

According to La Canfora, Fox is “very high” on Shanahan, who happens to have ties to QB Jay Cutler from their time in Denver.

It will be interesting to see how the talks between Chicago and Fox go tomorrow and how quickly they move to line up other interviews with candidates.

The full list of candidates for the Bears’ head-coaching vacancy includes:

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The Chicago Bears announced that they have interviewed Lions DC Teryl Austin and former Bills HC Doug Marrone for their head-coaching vacancy on Tuesday.

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According to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears are expected to continue vetting head-coaching candidates such as Lions DC Teryl Austin and former Bills HC Doug Marrone, even with John Fox being available.

As of now, Fox is considered the favorite to land the Bears position, but they did meet with Austin on Tuesday.

There was a lot of talk that Marrone could be one of the most sought after candidates if he were to be available, but there hasn’t been much buzz surrounding him in recent days.

In fact, some have said that Marrone could eventually accept a position with the Texans.

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ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported late last night that the Bears will interview former Broncos HC John Fox for their head-coaching vacancy.

  • Mortensen considers it a “logical pairing,” but add that nothing is guaranteed at this point in time.
  • Alex Marvez reports that one NFL executive has told him that he believes Chicago is the “frontrunner” for Fox.
  • According to Ian Rapoport, Fox wants the Bears job, as he may not get consideration from the Falcons.

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Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, citing a person familiar with the situation, reports that former Broncos John Fox would be interested in the Bears head-coaching job.

Campbell would not be surprised if there was mutual interest between Fox and the Bears.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Monday night that “all eyes are on Chicago” in regards to potential landing spot for Fox.

There are still a number of head-coaching positions available, but it sounds like the Jets and Falcons may not be options for Fox, which would leave Chicago in a solid position to land him as their next head coach.

The 49ers and Raiders are also in the market for a new head coach, but we’ve yet to hear anything about either of them having interest in Fox.

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Pro Football Talk, citing an “informed source,” mentions that early speculation has the Bears possibly being an option for Fox.

  • According to PFT, this is something to “keep an eye on” in the coming days.
  • Ian Rapoport reports that the Bears had been looking to pair a veteran head coach with new GM Ryan Pace, and with Fox being available, this could be an option.
  • Jason La Canfora also believes the Bears are a team to watch in regards to Fox.

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ESPN’s Josina Anderson reports that Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is scheduled to interview with the Bears on Tuesday for their head-coaching vacancy.

Austin has found a decent amount of interest in the past week since Detroit was eliminated from the postseason. According to reports, Austin has interviewed with the 49ers and Falcons.

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Chicago Bears are prepared to make a “major push” to hire Ravens OC Gary Kubiak as their next head coach.

Following the Ravens loss, Kubiak is now available to interview with NFL teams regarding head-coaching opportunities.

Recent reports have also mentioned that the Jets could have interest in Kubiak as well.

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Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Bears have requested permission to interview Lions DC Teryl Austin for their head-coaching vacancy.

Austin has found a decent amount of interest this week from teams like the 49ers, Falcons and Bills.

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Bears president Ted Phillips mentioned Friday that none of the candidates that have interviewed for their head-coaching vacancy have been eliminated from consideration.

According Phillips, they moved to get interviews done with Seahawks DC Dan Quinn and Broncos OC Adam Gase before their windows to meet with teams closed.

“That’s why we went out and interviewed Dan Quinn and Adam Gase, because their teams had a bye in the first week of the playoffs,” Phillips said, via Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “So we thought, ‘Look, we don’t have a GM. But we do want to make sure we can get in the mix with those two guys because they were impressive candidates.’”

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Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wonders if former Bills HC Doug Marrone could be the Bears target as their next head coach now that they’ve hired Ryan Pace as their new general manager.

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The Bears announced that they interviewed Cardinals DC Todd Bowles for the head-coaching vacancy on Thursday with new GM Ryan Pace participating in the interview.

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The Chicago Bears announced the hiring of Ryan Pace as their new general manager on Thursday.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Pace is wasting no time in the process of hiring a new head coach, as he is reportedly taking part in the team’s interview with Cardinals DC Todd Bowles.

Brad Biggs points out that Pace was with the Saints when Doug Marrone was the team’s offensive coordinator from 2006 – 2008.

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ESPN’s Ed Werder mentions that if Chiefs personnel executive Chris Ballard is hired as the Bears new GM, he doesn’t see him targeting  Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub or offensive coordinator Doug Pederson for their head-coaching vacancy.

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Ed Werder reports that the Bears do not have Mike Shanahan on their list of candidates for their head-coaching vacancy.

This comes in contrast to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Media that mentioned Chicago is expected to interview Shanahan after they hire their next general manager.

The overall expectation right now is that the Bears will hire Chiefs personnel executive Chris Ballard as their GM.

  • Jason La Canfora reports that Ballard is likely to support the idea of hiring Shanahan as their head coach.
  • La Canfora adds that Shanahan “covets” the opportunity to work with QB Jay Cutler again, as they remain close and believe they could thrive together.

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Multiple reports have confirmed that confirmed that Cardinals DC Todd Bowles will interview with the Bears this week after he meets with the Jets, Falcons and 49ers. 

  • Ian Rapoport reports that the meeting will take place on Saturday, which could be an indication that they will have a new general manager in place by then.
  • Rapoport mentions that Chicago has been holding off on interviews for the most part until they hired a new GM.

For what it’s worth, Chiefs executive Chris Ballard declined to meet with the Jets and has an interview with Chicago set for Wednesday.

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Ravens OC Gary Kubiak is unwilling to interview for head-coaching positions until Baltimore’s season has come to an end.

  • Kubiak has reportedly found interest from the Bears and Jets, but it sounds like the earliest he could meet with them is a week from tomorrow.

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Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reports that the Chicago Bears have no interest in former Jets HC Rex Ryan.

According to Florio, it’s unclear why the Bears do not have interest in Ryan, but it appears as though he is not an option for Chicago.

Many assumed that they would at least check in on Ryan to see if he was interested in the job, as their defense has been horrible in recent years. Ryan’s dad, Buddy Ryan, is responsible for the Bears’ legendary ’85 defensive unit.

As of now, Broncos DC Jack Del Rio, Seahawks DC Dan Quinn, Broncos OC Adam Gase, Cardinals DC Todd Bowles, former Bills HC Doug Marrone, Ravens OC Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan have all come up as potential options for the Bears head-coaching vacancy.

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According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, Broncos DC Jack Del Rio could meet with the Chicago Bears after he interviews with the Oakland Raiders.

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The Bears will interview Seahawks DC Dan Quinn for their head-coaching vacancy Friday night, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

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Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Bears  will interview Seahawks DC Dan Quinn today and Broncos OC Adam Gase on Saturday.

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Brian Costello of the New York Post reports that former Bills HC Doug Marrone has interviews lined up with the Bears and Falcons.

  • Marrone will interview with the Jets either Sunday or Monday.

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According to Dan Pompei of the Bleacher Report, the Chicago Bears have expressed interest in Ravens OC Gary Kubiak for their head-coaching vacancy.

  • ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Broncos OC Adam Gase is scheduled to interview with the Bears later in the week.
  • Albert Breer reports that Seahawks DC Dan Quinn will interview with the Chicago Bears on Friday.

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Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Bears have officially requested permission to speak with Broncos OC Adam Gase about their head coaching vacancy.

  • Rapoport adds that the Falcons and 49ers have also asked to speak with Gase.

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The Chicago Bears fired GM Phil Emery, HC Marc Trestman and OC Aaron Kromer Monday, and it would not be surprising to see them part ways with DC Mel Tucker at some point in the near future.

It’s still very early in the process, but names are beginning to surface in regards to the Bears vacancies.

Earlier in the day, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk mentioned that former Jets HC Rex Ryan could be an option for the Bears, but this is just a suggestion as of now.

Others have suggested that Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard could be a candidate for the Bears general manager position.

We’ll post updates here regarding potential candidates for the Bears as the news is available.

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