Now we look at the candidates who were previously not on ECD’s list and have received official requests from the Bears for interviews.
For parts one and two, you can click on the following links.
Part 1 – First Time Head Coach Candidates
Part 2 – Retreads, College Prospects, Hell-no List, and Ben Johnson
Since Black Monday officially began we’ve seen a slew of requests and names being associated with the Chicago Bears. So far the following names that I’ve covered previously are as follows.
- Ben Johnson
- Joe Brady
- Todd Monken
- Aaron Glenn
- Drew Petzing
- Mike Vrabel
- Pete Carroll
- Brian Flores
- Anthony Weaver
- David Shaw
- Kliff Kingsbury
- Matt Campbell
- Mike McCarthy*
- Thomas Brown**
*Dallas Cowboys denied the Bears’ request to interview Mike McCarthy while he still has one week left on his contract.
**Thomas Brown is the interim head coach and will receive a formal interview.
Naturally, there was a handful of names that I did not think would be included in the Bears’ 2025 search. As GM Ryan Poles promised in his presser, there were — and shall be more — surprises while requests continue to be put out. He even suggested that a trade for a head coach is on the table as one possible course of action.
Let’s kick part three off with the names of which have been confirmed to be on the Bears’ list for interviews.
Official Candidates Added to the List
Mike Kafka, Asst. Head Coach and OC, New York Giants
Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
If you had mentioned this possibility for the Bears in 2022, I would have been pretty excited. Since then, his star has truly faded, and I initially said, “Is this actually happening?” when his name was revealed by various national insiders. You could also say none of the hardships experienced during his time in New Jersey (the Giants aren’t actually in New York) were entirely his fault.
For Mike Kafka, his connections to the Bears and the city of Chicago are almost as straightforward as you can imagine for any candidate set to interview with the massive search team at Halas Hall.
The former St. Rita and Northwestern graduate was also born in Chicago himself and would go on to play in the NFL as a quarterback for seven different teams — Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals — before heading into the world of coaching in 2016. He returned to his alma mater as a graduate assistant for one season.
In 2017, we’d see Andy Reid, who coached Mike Kafka while in Philly, hire the Chicago native as a quality control coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. He’d quickly get promoted to quarterbacks coach and then passing game coordinator before joining forces with Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator for the New York Giants. Everything looked promising in 2022 as the Giants cruised to a 9-7-1 finish, and Daniel Jones looked like Danny Dimes. Since then… it’s been a downward spiral.
After their solid start in 2022, the Giants would win just 9 more times between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. First and plainly, they locked themselves in with Daniel Jones and a massive overpay for a player who truly never deserved his then-record-breaking deal. During the 2024 season, even with a promotion to assistant head coach, Mike Kafka got stripped of his play calling responsibilities permanently. Brian Daboll handled that job himself as the Giants bottomed out with a top-three pick by year’s end.
Even with how ugly things got in 2024, there are valid reasons to at least interview Mike Kafka, and there is history to support the decision. At 37 years old, Mike’s still relatively young and has been given a large plate of responsibilities fairly early in his coaching career. Once upon a time, Sean Payton had his play-calling responsibilities stripped by Jim Fassel while working with… the New York Giants in 2002. I think Sean’s career turned out just fine following that setback.
Then you’d have to look at the hand which has been dealt to Mike. He worked wonders in Kansas City to speed up the development of Patrick Mahomes and was widely regarded as a young assistant on the rise for a head coaching job. He goes to New York for his first chance at calling plays on his own, and while there were mixed results, there was tangible progress with player development. Malik Nabers has turned into a star in his rookie season while Mike Kafka dealt with perhaps the worst quarterback depth chart outside of Tennessee.
His personal connections to GM Ryan Poles and Team President Kevin Warren are there as well. Kevin likely knew Mike when the latter was a backup quarterback for the Vikings in 2015, and then Mike would work with Ryan from 2017 to 2021. On paper, this interview request isn’t sexy whatsoever. But it is one that makes sense strictly from a connect-the-dots mindset. It also fits the theme of “Chicago Pride” and the need for a coach who understands how to craft a plan for a young quarterback.
Any hiring of Mike Kafka would be considered underwhelming to many fans. The same was said for Matt LaFleur with the Green Bay Packers. Ditto for Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions. Heck, Kevin O’Connell hardly received any interest before being hired by the Minnesota Vikings. Three unheralded hires sit atop the NFC North at this current time. Just something to think about whenever any hire is made in the coming weeks.
Arthur Smith, OC, Pittsburgh Steelers
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
This would fall squarely in the “retread” category as far as candidates are concerned. The former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons has enjoyed a fairly long career in the pros dating back to 2006. His father, Frederick W. Smith, happened to be a minority owner of the (now) Washington Commanders, and Arthur would begin his career as a defensive quality control coach.
He’d eventually make the switch to the offensive side of the ball as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans and then was promoted to their offensive coordinator position following Matt LaFleur’s departure for Green Bay. The work Arthur accomplished in reviving Ryan Tannehill’s career was nothing short of impressive. Of course his development of players like Derrick Henry and Jonnu Smith was well documented as well.
Fast forward to his time as a head coach, and you will see a lot of head-scratching errors made left and right on his resume. The Atlanta Falcons named him as their 18th head coach in franchise history in an effort to build a high-powered offense following the late collapse under Dan Quinn. While player development was his forte in Tennessee, he did not repeat that kind of success in Atlanta. Highly drafted players like Kyle Pitts and Drake London simply weren’t used in any good fashion until Arthur Smith was fired.
Scoring three consecutive 7-10 seasons as a head coach leaves much to be desired. Is he a solid OC? Yes. Is he someone who can rebound in their second chance as a head coach? Not likely. Much like Kliff Kingsbury, Arthur Smith is at his best as an offensive coordinator.
Vance Joseph, DC, Denver Broncos
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Another retread candidate for the Bears has been revealed from various writers within the Denver Broncos based writers pool as the search officially kicked off on Monday, January 6th. We know he’s one of the NFL’s greatest defensive minds with an excellent track record to back him up. As a head coach… not so much. Although his first stint was also fairly short,
Vance’s squads have routinely been ranked within the top five in multiple stops around the league. In his one season (2016) with the Miami Dolphins, their defense became a major catalyst in clinching the ‘Phins’ first playoff appearance in eight seasons. He’s also had a top-notch unit in his return to the Denver Broncos as a defensive coordinator in 2024. There’s no question he’ll have an easy time setting up an elite unit in Chicago. Pieces are already in place for a seasoned DC to turn things around quickly.
Much like the reasons why I’m bearish — pun not intended — on Arthur Smith, I’m very hesitant to consider Vance Joseph. He went 11-21 in his two seasons as a head coach for Denver. You can argue that’s not enough time to build a consistent winner, but the acronym of “NFL” truly stands for “Not For Long.” I am fairly skeptical that there will be a strong enough OC candidate to override what were two long seasons without much improvement to show.
Once again, we’ve got a strong coordinator who just didn’t work out as a head coach. Time will tell if he gets his second chance. Yet, when piecing together the Bears’ preferences for a coach who’s both a leader and can craft a successful QB plan around Caleb Williams, this idea seems like a longshot.
The Surprise Candidate
Kevin O’Connell, HC, Minnesota Vikings
Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
And this would be an absolute shocker if it does happen. However, between what Jay Glazer has put out and Ryan Poles’ comments from his end of year presser, this opportunity is a real option. A fairly expensive and unprecedented one at that.
Kevin has been one of those unheralded hires that people slept on in the 2022 offseason. Even I was skeptical on how he’d fair considering the state of the Vikings’ roster and his very brief career prior to his hire as the head ball coach for the purple people eaters. He’s exceeded every possible expectation tenfold. The highlights of his accomplishments so far are extraordinary.
- Two seasons of having at least 13 wins within their first three years.
- Revived the careers of Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins.
- Molded perhaps the most dangerous supporting cast around the quarterbacks.
Usually I pay close attention to what Jay Glazer says on air during his weekly pregame shows and on his personal Twitter account. If he’s reporting there’s leaguewide interest in teams potentially trading for Kevin O’Connell’s services, I’m filing it as valid. Then Ryan Poles himself mentioned a trade for a coach is on the table if they’re considered the best option.
In NFL history, the trading of a head coach has happened six times in the last few decades.
- 1997 – Bill Parcells (traded from New England Patriots to New York Jets)
- 1999 – Mike Holmgren (traded from Green Bay Packers to Seattle Seahawks)
- 2000 – Bill Belichick (traded from New York Jets to New England Patriots)
- 2002 – Jon Gruden (traded from then Oakland Raiders to Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
- 2006 – Herm Edwards (traded from New York Jets to Kansas City Chiefs)
- 2023 – Sean Payton (traded from New Orleans Saints to Denver Broncos)
Some of these trades happened because the coach was on a “retirement” status yet still under contract with their previous employer. Still, this has happened enough times to not completely dismiss the idea. Trading a coach to a division rival has happened twice. The price range for these deals has ranged from second-round picks to multiple first-round picks.
The Minnesota Vikings flat out said “no” when asked about the possibility of trading their head ball coach anywhere. I can only imagine chairperson Zygi Wilf having a good laugh before brushing off the inquiries. Still… I can’t help but imagine Kevin Warren will at least have this thought in the back of his mind. It’s been stated Ryan Poles is in charge of this search. Anything can change in an instant.
For what it’s worth Carl Williams — the father of Caleb Williams — has been a huge advocate of Kevin O’Connell being traded to the Bears. In no shape or form am I suggesting Carl will somehow have a voice in this search. Just a curiosity from the Williams family being vocal about their frustrations and hopes for their son to excel in the pros.
Personally, I’d keep the draft compensation and move forward with hiring our own version of Kevin O’Connell. I.E. someone like Ben Johnson, Joe Brady, etc. We cannot rule out this option, or the idea of trading for someone else like Kyle Shanahan, anymore. It’s an option that will be considered.
(As time goes by, we will continue to monitor for more names and discuss those options in this growing coaching search.)