The Chicago Bears’ 2024 season came to a pseudo-optimistic conclusion on Sunday, with their last-gasp 22-21 victory in Green Bay. Save for some slow, steady growth from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and another quality campaign from All-Pro cornerback Jaylon Johnson, the year was an unmitigated bust.
Chicago lost 10 of its last 11 games, fired both its head coach and offensive coordinator mid-season, and few if any, players on either side of the ball distinguished themselves. Don’t be surprised to see a wildly revamped Bears roster come August.
Chicago’s coaching staff will also look much different, as well it should. General manager Ryan Poles told ESPN 1000 that interim head coach Thomas Brown would get an interview — despite dropping five of the six games he coached — but it would be difficult to imagine the screen-pass-happy Brown convincing the entire Chicago front office he deserves the job (because he doesn’t).
Here are 11 potential head coaches, however, who might be the best Bears hire since Lovie Smith.
11) Anthony Weaver
- Current Gig: Miami Dolphins Defensive Coordinator
- Résumé: Played defensive end for Baltimore (2002-05) and Houston (2006-08); Defensive line coach for the New York Jets, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Houston; Promoted to Texans DC in 2020; Performed multiple defensive coaching roles in Baltimore between 2021-23; Hired by Miami in 2024.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: Word is that Ryan Poles has a man-crush on Anthony Weaver, and that’s very much on-brand for the Bears’ GM, who has an apparent predilection for defensive-minded coaches that aren’t on anybody’s radar (#MattEberflus).
Weaver seems to be grittier than Eberflus, and, as is the case with Aaron Glenn (see below), if he brings in a quality offensive mind, this could end up being a slick little hire.
10) Brian Flores
- Current Gig: Minnesota Vikings Defensive Coordinator
- Résumé: Performed a variety of coaching roles for the New England Patriots between 2008-18; Dolphins head coach from 2019-2021, where he put together a record of 24-25; Spent 2022 as senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers; Hired as Minnesota DC in 2024.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: This one’s a conundrum. On one hand, Brian Flores is the kind of big personality, tough guy, and defensive wiz who would jibe with the Bears’ tradition.
On the other hand, when he was in Miami, he clashed with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and whoever Chicago hires has to make nice with Caleb Williams. To his credit, Flores did try to apologize, but it didn’t go well, leaving one to wonder if he has the political acumen to thrive in Chicago.
9) Pete Carroll
- Current Gig: Seattle Seahawks advisor
- Résumé: Climbed up the college ranks between 1973-83, during which time he performed a number of defensive-oriented roles at Arkansas, Iowa State, Ohio State, and North Carolina State, among others; Took on more defensive roles with the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings; After three seasons as Jets’ defensive coordinator, Pete Carroll was promoted to head coach in 1994; Spent two years as San Francisco’s DC before being hired by New England as head coach; Went back to college after three seasons with the Patriots, beginning an eight-year stint at USC; Took the job with Seattle Seahawks in 2010, where he spent the next 13 years, winning Super Bowl 48.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: The Monsters of the Midway need a culture change, and if anybody could simultaneously sweeten and toughen the Bears, it’s the gregarious Pete Carroll. Twenty years ago, Carroll would have been at the top of this list, but Chicago needs somebody who’ll be there for the long term.
Carroll is 73, which would tie him with Romeo Crennel as the oldest man ever hired for an NFL head coach. (George “Papa Bear” Halas was 73 when he began his second stint as Chicago coach.) He’s certainly worth an interview, but that’s probably as far as it should go.
8) Todd Monken
- Current Gig: Baltimore Ravens Offensive Coordinator
- Résumé: Worked through the college ranks, serving various offensive roles at Notre Dame, LSU, Georgia, and Oklahoma State; Offensive coordinator with Tampa Bay (2016-17) and Cleveland (2019); Hired by Baltimore in 2023.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: The Ravens are known as a defense-first franchise, but under Todd Monken, they’ve turned into an offensive juggernaut. (Okay, Lamar Jackson has a little something to do with that, but a juggernaut is a juggernaut.)
Without a true WR1 — let’s be honest, folks, Zay Flowers is a high-end WR2 — Baltimore finished the season leading the NFL in total yards gained by a wide margin, and they rank second in points scored. Sure, D’Andre Swift isn’t Derrick Henry, but it still feels like Monken could make it work at Soldier Field.
7) Bobby Slowik
- Current Gig: Houston Texans Offensive Coordinator
- Résumé: Wide receiver at Michigan Tech University; Held multiple coaching positions with the San Francisco 49ers between 2017-2022; Hired by the Texans in 2023, where he played a role in the development of a certain epic rookie quarterback.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: One name — C.J. Stroud. We don’t know exactly how much hands-on work bOBBY Slowik did with the Texans’ star sophomore signal-caller, but we do know that Stroud is awfully good at quarterbacking. Maybe the 37-year-old comes to the table with a similar plan to unleash Williams.
6) Mike Vrabel
- Current Gig: Free Agent
- Résumé: During his 13-year NFL career, the linebacker starred in Pittsburgh, New England, and Kansas City, earning a Pro Bowl nod and a spot in the Patriots Hall of Fame; Various defensive coaching spots at his alma mater Ohio State between 2011-13; Linebackers coach and defensive coordinator with the Houston Texans between 2014-17; Spent six years as HC of the Tennessee Titans, where he compiled a regular season record of 56-43.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: When the topic of the Bears’ head coach search comes up, you’ll often hear the phrase “leader of men.” And on the surface, Mike Vrabel checks that box.
He’s tangibly tough, is loaded with gravitas, and he has a scary rectangular head.
The 49-year-old is a throwback of sorts. Vrabel is the kind of guy who’ll tell you to rub some dirt on your leg when you have a dislocated knee because tough guys don’t need doctors, but after the Eberflus experience, Chicago could use some grrrr.
5) Joe Brady
Buffalo Bills OC Joe Brady on their utilization of motion pic.twitter.com/mDPFVVj65v
— Pace N Space (@PaceNSpace2) December 19, 2024
- Current Gig: Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator
- Résumé: Wide receiver at William & Mary; Cut his coaching teeth at William & Mary and Penn State; Carolina Panthers OC from 2020-2021; Elevated to Buffalo’s OC from quarterbacks coach after one season.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: Hey, that Josh Allen guy can play a little bit of ball, can’t he? Sure, when Joe Brady took over as Buffalo’s QBs coach in 2022, Allen was a fully formed product, but he somehow improved under Brady.
If the 35-year-old can bring some of his signal-calling fairy dust to Chicago, things could get interesting under center.
4) Liam Coen
- Current Gig: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator
- Résumé: Four-year starting quarterback at Massachusetts; Between 2010-2017, served a variety of college-level offensive coaching roles at Brown, Rhode Island, UMass, and Maine; During a three-year stint with the Los Angeles Rams, was promoted from assistant wide receivers coach to assistant quarterbacks coach; Hired by Tampa Bay in 2024 after a season as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: Here’s a sentence you never thought you’d hear: Baker Mayfield is an unmitigated beast. Or, probably more accurately, he’s become an unmitigated beast, thanks in part to Liam Coen’s pass-happy scheme.
In his seventh season, Mayfield put up career highs in every major passing category, highlighted by a whopping 39 touchdowns, so Coen’s scheme must be pretty okay. It’s probably worth mentioning that the Bucs finished the season ranked third in the NFL in total yards, while the Bears finished dead last.
3) Aaron Glenn
- Current Gig: Detroit Lions Defensive Coordinator
- Résumé: During his 14-year, three-time Pro Bowl career, Aaron Glenn played with the Jets, Texans, Cowboys, Jaguars, and Saints; Assistant defensive backs coach for Cleveland between 2014-15; New Orleans Saints DBs coach from 2016-20; Hired as Detroit DC in 2021.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: Being that the 2025 Bears (and the 2026 and 2027 versions) should be all about Williams, it would make sense to hire an offensive-minded coach. But this season’s defense allowed over 350 yards per game, the seventh-most in the league.
Meanwhile, up in Detroit, Glenn’s Lions D has been a veritable sieve for the second half of the season. Yet, that can be blamed on their mind-boggling rash of injuries.
Before the Lions’ trainers’ room became a revolving door, Detroit’s defense allowed an average of 19.9 points per game. Get this man a good offensive coordinator, and things might start looking up.
2) Kliff Kingsbury
Kliff Kingsbury was asked if he wanted to be a head coach again. Here’s what he said pic.twitter.com/diZhHgioV4
— obvlon (@obvlon) January 2, 2025
- Current Gig: Washington Commanders Offensive Coordinator
- Résumé: In his four-year professional career, the former quarterback put in time with New England, New Orleans, Denver, the New York Jets, and Buffalo; Took on various offensive coaching roles at the University of Houston between 2008-11; Put together a 35-40 record during his five-year tenure at Texas Tech; Head coach of the Arizona Cardinals between 2019-22; After a season as a consultant at USC, Kliff Kingsbury was hired by Washington in 2024.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: He’s innovative, he gets results on the offensive side of the ball, and he oozes energy. That’s three qualities the Bears haven’t seen in a head coach since ever.
While Kingsbury will undoubtedly be interested in the Bears gig (he should be interested in any head coaching gig), he might be trepidatious, as Chicago interviewed him for the offensive coordinator position last spring but then chose to roll with Shane Waldron.
So, not only was Kingsbury passed over, but he was also passed over for having a notably inferior mind. That shows terrible judgment by the Bears’ brain trust, something that might give the Texas native more than a little pause.
1) Ben Johnson
- Current Gig: Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator
- Résumé: Spent five years with the Miami Dolphins, climbing the ladder from offensive assistant, to assistant QBs coach, to TEs coach, to assistant WRs coach, to WRs coach; Hired by the Lions in 2019 as offensive quality control coach; Promoted to offensive coordinator in 2022.
Why He Might Be Good for Bears: Ben Johnson helped turn Jared Goff into an MVP candidate. His backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery was among the most electric RB duos of the last decade, and he apparently wants to be in Chicago. (That’s a huge deal, as, generally speaking, no sexy coach wants to be in Chicago.)
Getting Johnson into Halas Hall would be a franchise-altering coup, so spend the money, Bears. Spend the money.