Mike McCarthy, Ben Johnson and Bears coaching candidates


CHICAGO — As the Bears’ coaching search entered its second week, a notable name was added to a long list of candidates.

The Dallas Cowboys announced Monday that they will not bring Mike McCarthy back for a sixth season after the two sides failed to agree on the terms of a contract extension. The Cowboys denied Chicago’s request to interview McCarthy while he was under contract in Dallas. Now that McCarthy is a free agent, the Bears were free to interview him on Wednesday.

The Bears flew McCarthy on Wednesday afternoon, according to a league source.

The Bears’ roster stands at 19 with interviews completed (9), interviews requested (9) and a report from NFL Network about interest in speaking with Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, whose team will play Ohio State in the National Championship game of College Football on January 1. 20.

With the wild-card round complete, Chicago can interview a handful of intriguing candidates, from Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

Chicago general manager Ryan Poles promised an exhaustive search that would include names that would “surprise” many, as the Bears aim to dig deeper than before in this head coaching search. The goal remains to find a coach who will maximize the abilities of former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams.

Here’s a breakdown of the candidates.

Interviews completed

Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown: Brown interviewed with the Bears on Monday and also interviewed for the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator vacancy. No other coach is as knowledgeable about Williams and the Bears offense as Brown, who was promoted twice during the season to offensive coordinator and interim head coach for Chicago’s final five games.


Pete Carroll, former head coach of the Seattle Seahawks: Carroll expressed interest in the Bears’ position in December and was the team’s fourth interview in the past week. He spent 14 seasons in Seattle, where he won a Super Bowl (2013) and captured a national championship with USC in 2004. Carroll, 74, has the most head coaching experience of any candidate the United States are interested in. Bears, with additional stints with the Jets (1994) and Patriots (1997 to 1999). He spent the 2024 season as an advisor to Seattle.


Aaron Glenn, defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions: Glenn interviewed with the Bears during Detroit’s first-round bye. Detroit allowed 20.1 points per game (seventh) and had the NFL’s best third down defense (32.4%) en route to the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Glenn completed his fourth season in Detroit and previously coached defensive backs in New Orleans and Cleveland.


Ben Johnson, Lions offensive coordinator: The biggest name of the coaching cycle completed a virtual interview with Chicago during Detroit’s bye before interviewing with the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders. Johnson has coordinated a Lions offense that ranked first in scoring (33.2) and second in yards per game (409.5). Johnson turned down the Commanders for a second head coaching interview last year and is in high demand this cycle.


Mike Kafka, New York Giants offensive coordinator: Kafka and the Poles coincided in Kansas City for five seasons, including four when Kafka was Patrick Mahomes’ quarterbacks coach. For the past three seasons, Kafka has been the Giants’ offensive coordinator and called plays for most of his first two seasons before coach Brian Daboll took over calling the plays in 2024. The Giants had an offense that ran 30th in yards and 31st in points per game. .


Mike McCarthy, former Cowboys head coach: McCarthy has led teams to the playoffs in 12 of his 18 seasons as an NFL head coach, with an 11-11 postseason record and eight division titles. He was instrumental in Aaron Rodgers’ development from the start of his career in 2006 and helped Dak Prescott set career highs in completions and touchdowns while becoming an MVP candidate in 2023.

There are reasonable questions about McCarthy’s game management, especially in the postseason, and the Cowboys were the NFL’s most penalized team (8.2 total penalties, 6.8 accepted per game) during his five seasons in Dallas.

Drew Petzing, Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator: Petzing overlapped with Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren for five seasons (2014 to 2018) in Minnesota, where he worked with receivers and quarterbacks. After one season as Cleveland’s quarterbacks coach (2022), Petzing spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator at Arizona, where he called plays for a top-10 rushing offense with quarterback Kyler Murray, who threw for 3,851 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 touchdowns. interceptions this season.


Ron Rivera, former Commanders and Carolina Panthers head coach: Rivera was the first candidate the Bears interviewed in person on Jan. 12. He spent 13 years as the head coach of two NFL franchises (Washington and Carolina) and compiled a 102-103 record and was twice named Coach of the Year. He also led the Panthers to Super Bowl 50 after the 2015 season.

Rivera hasn’t had a winning season in the NFL since 2017, but he has experience building the kind of culture that Poles, Warren and president George McCaskey believe is critical to getting the Bears back on track. The 63-year-old was a Bears linebacker for nine seasons and was the team’s defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2006.


David Shaw, former Stanford head coach and current Broncos senior personnel executive: Shaw has coached in the NFL and college football and spent the 2024 season as the Broncos’ senior personnel executive. He developed quarterback Andrew Luck into the No. 1 overall pick while at Stanford and also coached Houston quarterback Davis Mills.


Anthony Weaver, defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins: Weaver just finished his first season in Miami coordinating a defense that ranked 10th in scoring and fourth in total defense. His NFL coaching pedigree has its roots on the defensive line, where the Bears finished tied for ninth with 40 sacks this season. The 52-year-old coach and seven-year NFL defensive end spent the 2022-23 season in Baltimore as defensive line coach and assistant head coach to John Harbaugh.

Interviews requested

Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach: The two-time AP Big 12 Coach of the Year set a program record for wins in 2024 with 11. Campbell has been at Iowa State since 2016 and is credited with developing Jets running back Breece Hall and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy into an NFL starter while compiling a 64-51 record. Campbell has never coached in the NFL.


Joe Brady, offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills: Perhaps the biggest endorsement Brady received was when Bills quarterback Josh Allen jokingly warned teams to stay away from his offensive coordinator. The Bills earned second place in the AFC in 2024 with the second-leading scoring offense and a top-nine rushing and passing attack. Brady and Williams have a relationship that dates back to when Williams was a 12-year-old camper at William & Mary, where Brady was the linebackers coach. When Brady was a coach at LSU, Williams was leaning toward attending college, but moved to Oklahoma when Brady left for the NFL.


Brian Flores, Vikings defensive coordinator: The Bears have seen Flores’ aggressive defenses up close the past two seasons. Among the biggest names this cycle, Flores brings experience as a head coach during three seasons in Miami, where he compiled a 24-25 record and a defense that ranked fourth in EPA. There will be questions about his ability to develop a young quarterback after his frosty relationship with Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa.


Kliff Kingsbury, commanders offensive coordinator: Kingsbury was hired by USC in 2023 to help Williams prepare for life in the NFL. The former Cardinals head coach made Kyler Murray the league’s Rookie of the Year in 2019 and is on pace to see Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels win the same award after setting rookie records in completion percentage (69) and quarterback rushing yards (891) for an offense that ranks No. 5 in scoring (28.5 points per game).


Todd Monken, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator: Monken, 52, has extensive experience on the offensive side of the ball. He coached Stetson Bennett at Georgia to back-to-back national championships and has elevated Lamar Jackson as a quarterback. That has been instrumental in his MVP season in 2023 and record-breaking 2024 campaign, when he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 800 in the same season.


Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator: Smith has head coaching experience with the Falcons and exceeded expectations with the Pittsburgh offense for most of the 2024 season with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields as his quarterbacks. The Steelers plummeted in the final month of the season, losing their last five, including a wild-card game to the Ravens. Pittsburgh did not exceed 17 points in any of those losses.


Adam Stenavich, Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator: Stenavich has been with Green Bay since 2019, when he joined Matt LaFleur’s staff as offensive line coach. While LaFleur calls plays for Green Bay, Stenavich’s biggest impact has been on the Packers’ running game, which ranked fifth in yards and touchdowns in 2024.

The Bears followed a similar path with Matt Eberflus when they hired Luke Getsy as their offensive coordinator (2022-23) after spending time with LaFleur as Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. Getsy’s first time calling plays was in Chicago, and the Bears’ passing offense never ranked 27th in his two seasons as OC.



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