There were seven vacancies, and two of the have been filed. The Kansas City Chiefs hired Andy Reid, and the Buffalo Bills hired Doug Marrone. But give Bears general manager Phil Emery this: he’s held firm to his promise to look at a “wide variety of candidates.” The Bears certainly have cast the widest net.

Continue reading →

There were seven vacancies, and two of the have been filed.

The Kansas City Chiefs hired Andy Reid, and the Buffalo Bills hired Doug Marrone.

But give Bears general manager Phil Emery this: he’s held firm to his promise to look at a “wide variety of candidates.”

The Bears certainly have cast the widest net. The known interviews thus far: Atlanta Falcons special teams coach Keith Armstrong, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan, New Orleans offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis.

As I previously reported, Emery was scheduled to meet with Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy today. And he’s scheduled to meet with Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman Monday, according to ESPN.

The Bears have also requested to speak to Houston Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison, Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements and Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.

But I suspect there are others who have or will be interviewed.

Emery mentioned he’d consider college coaches and none have been strongly linked to the Bears yet. Will Emery make a run at Nick Saban if the Alabama coach leads the Crimson Tide to another national title?

Or is there another under-the-radar type of college coach he’s long respected from his many days as a college scout and college scouting director?

Emery has said he’d ideally like to have a head coach in place by the East-West Shrine game, which will take place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Jan. 19. That’s nearly two weeks.

The belief is, Emery isn’t in a rush, although he will move quickly once he clicks with someone.

For now, my sense is that Emery is open to anyone but he’s trying to pick as many brains as possible. There are concerns about the candidates: some haven’t called plays, one has been in the CFL and out of the NFL for a while, some seem a tad inexperienced, etc… But Emery is a very serious and curious man, and he’s gathering a lot of intel during these interviews, getting a range of perspective.

Do you notice something?

Most of the candidates have worked with some of the finest contemporary quarterbacks, including Peyton Manning (McCoy and Arians), Eli Manning (Sullivan), Drew Brees (Carmichael), Brett Favre (Clements) and Aaron Rodgers (Clements).

Dennison worked with Jay Cutler in Denver, Matt Schaub in Houston, and he’s regarded for his knowledge of the offensive line. And Trestman has worked with a lot of talented quarterbacks over the years, primarily helping them transition from college to the pros.

If, say, Emery made a full-court press on a big-name defensive-minded coach like Saban, then perhaps he would push to hire one of the coordinators he’s interviewed to join the Bears and run the offense on their own.

Point is, there’s no downside to speaking to a lot of candidates before narrowing down the list. It also seems evident that the Bears are confident that they have a lot to offer so they don’t feel desperate to quickly hire someone.

I also think how some of these teams fare will factor in. Do the Bears wait on someone who is on the staff of a Super Bowl team? That sure would make it tough to put together a coaching staff.