When the Bears hired consultant Ernie Accorsi to head their search for a general manger to replace Phil Emery in 2015, they interviewed four candidates. With Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian heading the search to replace Ryan Pace, they already have interviewed seven candidates — with two scheduled for Tuesday and at least six more on deck.
That might be a byproduct of Zoom rather than the personal style of Accorsi and Polian. But either way, the Bears’ searches for a GM and head coach to replace Pace and Matt Nagy are notable for two things: the number of candidates, and the number of candidates drawing interest from other teams.
Nine days into the search, here are the GM candidates the Bears have interviewed with their search committee consisting of Polian, chairman George McCaskey, team president Ted Phillips, vice president of player engagement LaMar “Soup” Campbell; and senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Tanesha Wade:
- Glenn Cook, Browns vice president of player personnel.
- Champ Kelly, Bearse assistant director of player personnel.
- Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Browns vice president of football operations.
- Jeff Ireland, Saints assistant GM and former Dolphins GM.
- Monti Ossenfort, Titans director of player personnel.
- Joe Schoen, Bills assistant GM.
- Eliot Wolf, Patriots scouting consultant.
- Morocco Brown, Colts college scouting director.
The Bears are scheduled to interview Wolf and Brown on Tuesday. Wolf, 39, is the son of former Packers GM Ron Wolf. He spent 14 years with the Packers, rising to director of football operations, but left after losing out on the GM job to Brian Gutekunst in an upset. Wolf was the assistant GM with the Browns in 2018-19 before joining the Patriots in 2020.
Brown, 45, was the Bears’ assistant director of pro personnel under Bobby DePaul from 2001-07, when the Bears made three playoff appearances (2001, 2005, 2006) — but started his career as a scouting intern for the Colts when Polian was the GM. The Colts’ success in the draft in his five seasons a college scouting director — including Quenton Nelson, Darius Leonard, Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman — has thrust him into GM consideration.
The Bears are reported to have an interest in interviewing six others: Omar Khan, Steelers’ vice president of football and business administration; Reggie McKenzie, former Raiders GM; Ran Carthon, 49ers director of player personnel; Joe Hortiz, Ravens director of player personnel; JoJo Wooden, Chargers director of player personnel; and Ryan Poles, Chiefs executive director of player personnel.
The Bears also have interviewed six candidates for head coach, with four other candidates scheduled to interview. Those who they already have interviewed are:
- Doug Pederson, former Eagles head coach.
- Brian Flores, former Dolphins head coach.
- Nathaniel Hackett, Packers offensive coordinator.
- Jim Caldwell, former Colts and Lions head coach.
- Brian Daboll, Bills offensive coordinator.
- Matt Eberflus, Colts defensive coordinator.
The Bears also are expected to interview Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
The Bears are planning on first a hiring a GM, who presumably will hire the head coach. But their current list of coaching candidates is impressive on paper. It includes six former head coaches, including three who have taken teams to the Super Bowl (Pederson, Caldwell and Quinn). It also includes hot coordinators other teams are looking at (Daboll, Leftwich, Bowles, Hackett and Eberflus).
