Four head coach candidates the Chicago Bears should consider for 2025 and beyond after moving on from Matt Eberflus
The search for the next head coach of the Chicago Bears will soon begin after the team finally made the decision to move on from Matt Eberflus on Friday.After making the decision to move on following an embarrassing Thanksgiving loss to the Detroit Lions, the Bears now join the New York Jets and New Orleans […]
The search for the next head coach of the Chicago Bears will soon begin after the team finally made the decision to move on from Matt Eberflus on Friday.
After making the decision to move on following an embarrassing Thanksgiving loss to the Detroit Lions, the Bears now join the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints as teams with current head coach openings.
The Bears, with a talented roster and a young franchise quarterback, will be a highly coveted position for potential head coaching candidates. Here are four options the Bears should consider to become the team's next head coach.
Thomas Brown
This one should be obvious. In just three weeks, Thomas Brown went from being the Bears' passing game coordinator, to interim offensive coordinator, to interim head coach. You don't make those kind of jumps on the same staff unless the front office wants to see what he can do in the big chair leading an offense and now an entire organization.
Brown will have the final five games of the season to prove himself to the Bears' organization. Over the last two seasons, Brown's name has frequently been brought up among head coach conversations and this will be his best chance to land a HC job.
Since taking over as the team's acting offensive coordinator on November 12th, multiple Bears' players have praised Brown's leadership and communication, including the most important voice in making this decision, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.
"My ability and his coaching has connected pretty well," Williams said about Brown last week. "I think he's done a great job understanding me, even though we haven't had many talks in the past and things like that, many opportunities to do something like that. So I think he's done a good job understanding me and the players that we have on this team. And I think I think that's gonna keep growing."
Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson, the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator, has been the hottest name over the last two head coaching cycles. Each time, Johnson passed on multiple head coaching opportunities to remain in Detroit leading the team's explosive offense.
A few weeks back, it was reported by NFL Insider Albert Breer that Johnson wanted the head coach position in Chicago before general manager Ryan Poles opted to retain Matt Eberflus. Breer is well connected with the Bears and perhaps Poles could look to fix that error this offseason.
It certainly seems like Johnson was turning down head coaching opportunities until one opened that he really liked more than other teams in the league. Well, now that job is open and if things don't go swimmingly with Thomas Brown over the final five games, Johnson's name will be at the top of the list for the Bears.
Dan Lanning
I'm going to throw a wildcard out here for the Bears. Oregon head coach Dan Lanning recently discussed the possibility of making the jump to the NFL earlier this month and all but committed to staying with the program.
Even still, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler noted a few weeks back that Lanning's name has come up among NFL executives as a potential head coach option at the professional level, with one executive comparing him to Detroit Lions' head coach Dan Campbell.
Campbell quickly established a new culture into the heart of Detroit that has propelled the team into coming one of the best teams in the league. At this point, the Bears need a new culture and identity to be established and if Lanning can be the guy to do that, you certainly have to consider him for the job.
Joe Brady
Bringing in an offensive minded head coach has to be the priority for the Chicago Bears. If the Bears don't keep Thomas Brown as the team's next head coach, that means Caleb Williams will have a third offensive voice entering his second season. And if the head coach isn't an offensive mind, expect to see the team's future coordinators continue to get pooched by other teams in future cycles.
With that being said, the next best offensive option after Ben Johnson would be Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Brady joined the Bills in February of 2022 as a quarterbacks coach and was later given the full time offensive coordinator job back in January.
Brady's work with quarterback Josh Allen and his prior stop with the historic LSU offense led by Joe Burrow has given him quite the resume working with talented young quarterbacks and multiple play-makers.
If Brown and Johnson are off the table, Brady is the next bright offensive mind on the list who would be deserving of a head coaching opportunity.
Other potential names to watch:
– Kliff Kingsbury (Commanders' OC and former USC offensive assistant)
– Mike Vrabel (Former Tennessee Titans' HC and Cleveland Browns' assistant)
– Bill Belichick (Former New England Patriots' HC)
– Todd Monken (Baltimore Ravens' OC)
