Bears liked tough guy Mike Vrabel, but his heart was elsewhere. Figures.

It figures.

Mike Vrabel best fit the attribute “leader of men’’ that the Bears are seeking in a head coach. That job description was so pointed, so specific that it left observers with the sense that former coach Matt Eberflus couldn’t lead men and, further, would have a difficult time leading animals, vegetables or minerals.

But Vrabel? Here was a candidate who could turn the Bears into something more than a long-running punchline. Here was a tough guy with head-coaching experience and, better, a tough guy whose experience with head coaching involved actual winning.

But, as bad luck would have it, the Patriots stunk worse at the sport of football than the Bears did in 2024, so much so that they fired coach Jerod Mayo after just one season. Now they’ve replaced him with Vrabel. A very good fit for Chicago found a better fit in New England, a place that tugged at his heartstrings. He played nine seasons for the Patriots and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2023. He had no such connection to the Bears.

The “wide net’’ that Bears general manager Ryan Poles says the team is casting in search of the right coach apparently had a rather large hole in it. The New England job opened up at just the right time for him and absolutely the wrong time for the franchise in Chicago.

One might even argue that, given the Bears’ history of difficulties finding the right person for the job over the years, of course Vrabel’s dream job would come along at the exact time they were looking for a new coach. It’s like this: If the Bears decided to pursue Jesus for a carpentry job, you can bet God would have an immediate opening for a savior.

So, yes, it does indeed figure.

This wasn’t even a typical botching by the Bears. This wasn’t them announcing the hiring of Dave McGinnis as head coach in 1999 before he actually signed a contract, a not-so-small technicality at the time considering McGinnis A) didn’t like the Bears’ offer and B) see A.

This wasn’t the Bears passing on Bruce Arians in 2013 and hiring Marc Trestman as head coach. The next day, the Cardinals hired Arians, who went 10-6, 11-5, and 13-3, respectively, the next three seasons, making it to the NFC Championship Game in 2015. The Bears canned Trestman after two seasons.

No, this was your standard-issue tough break for a franchise that collects tough breaks like trading cards. Collects them and creates them. This was the Bears seeking at least one coach whose heart belonged to someone else. And who knows if Poles’ job status, whatever it is, played a role.

There are other good candidates out there for the Bears, possibly even the right one. Vrabel has a defensive background, which didn’t exactly meet the Bears’ need for a coach who can coax the athletic brilliance out of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Ben Johnson, the Lions offensive coordinator, might be able to do that. He has shared top-candidate billing in the media with Vrabel for the Bears job. That doesn’t mean either of them were the best candidates, just that gasbags of my ilk have decreed them to be.

Poles has interviewed or plans to interview a slew of people seeking the Bears head coaching job. Some are well known (Pete Carroll, Aaron Glenn, Brian Flores and Ron Rivera). Some are known by rabid NFL fans (the Dolphins’ Anthony Weaver and the Cardinals’ Drew Petzing). At least one (Iowa State’s Matt Campbell) is relatively obscure enough that his family has chimed in, “Who?”

But there’s no doubt that Vrabel fit one of the big categories that the Bears had laid out. He was demanding of his players when he was the Titans head coach, going 54-45 over six seasons. Did he wear on people in Tennessee? Probably. But it’s fair to say that Vrabel wouldn’t have given Tyrique Stevenson a slap on the wrist, the way Eberflus had, for starting the fire that burned down the 2024 season for the Bears. After the cornerback taunted Commanders fans during a last-second Hail Mary pass that led to a shocking loss, Eberflus “punished’’ Stevenson by not starting him the next game.

I don’t have proof, but I believe that’s where the idea of a “leader of men’’ began in earnest for the Bears’ front office, though that doesn’t begin to explain why the franchise didn’t fire Eberflus immediately for being such a softy.

Maybe this all turns out for the best, which I realize takes a leap of faith that could tear leg muscles. Maybe the Bears will find their macho man.

But I’ll require proof, the definitive kind, the kind involving years and victories.