As Bears proceed in coaching search, they can learn a lot from playoff teams
One of the Bears’ longest-standing traditions, right up there with the script B on the head coach’s hat and singing, “Bear Down, Chicago Bears” after scoring, is watching the playoffs on TV. If they’re home to be home on the couch, they might as well try to learn something.
While there’s plenty to glean from the 14 teams that made the playoffs this season, the Bears should pay especially close attention to the coaches when the postseason opens Saturday as they search for their next one.
There are eight coaches with an offensive background, and of the six who don’t have one, three have such extensive experience in the head job, like the Ravens’ John Harbaugh, that they’re credible all around.
That’s a critical factor for the Bears in their search. Some of the coaches they’ll consider will have specific expertise like Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson or Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, arguably the best in the NFL at their respective jobs, but general manager Ryan Poles’ six-man hiring committee must ascertain which candidates can manage far greater responsibility.
Otherwise, you end up with Matt Nagy all over again.
Every team in the playoff field this season got there by being good on both sides of the ball. All of them are ranked 20th or better in points scored and points allowed. The four consensus favorites to dethrone the Chiefs — the Lions, Bills, Eagles and Ravens — are no worse than 11th in either category. The Chiefs are fourth defensively and 15th in scoring, but nobody doubts their offense with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback.
Matt Eberflus, exclusively a defensive coach before the Bears hired him in 2022, promised to be a CEO-style head coach like the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin or the Lions’ Dan Campbell. But there was so little concrete evidence to convince the organization he could handle that, and sure enough, he couldn’t.
Experienced candidates like Pete Carroll and Mike Vrabel offer something in that area their competitors don’t. Both came up as defensive assistants but Carroll’s teams were in the top half of the league in scoring all but four seasons and Vrabel’s offense was 15th or better in 4 of 6 seasons coaching the Titans.
That comes down to having a solid process, great organization, versatility to step into any room in the building and prudence in hiring assistants.
The top assistants on the best teams usually get plucked for head-coaching jobs, but it’s not incidental. The Lions’ offense is prolific because of Johnson, just like Flores is the mastermind behind the Vikings’ defense. That speaks to savvy hiring Campbell, who has never been an offensive coordinator, and Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, whose background is on offense.
The Bears almost always get that wrong. They haven’t had a coveted coordinator since Vic Fangio was running their world-class defense in 2018. They have constant turnover at key positions for all the wrong reasons, not because things are going so wonderfully that rivals keep poaching their coordinators for top jobs.
No one came calling for Mark Helfrich, Chuck Pagano, Luke Getsy or Shane Waldron.
Virtually every playoff team has an assistant that someone wants to talk to about a head-coaching vacancy. The Bears, as one of six teams seeking a coach, have inquired about Johnson, Flores, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, and Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
They want any of those coaches to bring splashy ideas from their specific side of the ball, but it takes so much more than that to run a team. Poles must identify the candidates who have a clear picture of how the entire operation should look.