Ryan Poles said there would be some surprises in the Chicago Bears head coaching search. Thus far, he did tell the truth but nobody has really stood out as genuine shockers. Adam Stenavich was interesting, but the Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator has a strong track record. Marcus Freeman and Matt Campbell weren’t expected, but both are tremendous college coaches. At last, the first legitimate “WHAT!?” name dropped on Saturday night following Washington’s upset of Detroit in the divisional round.
Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported that Chicago would meet with former Tennessee Titans star running back Eddie George about their head coaching position. The four-time Pro Bowler has run the Tennessee State program over the past four years, leading them to their first FCS playoff berth in 11 years. That earned him Coach of the Year honors.
There are one of two possibilities for the Chicago Bear here.
The first and probably most likely is that George helps them comply with the Rooney Rule. This requires an NFL team to interview two outside minority candidates in person before making the official hire. Chicago already met with Ron Rivera earlier this week. That was the first. If George’s interview is in person, that would be the second, giving the Bears the green light to pursue whoever their primary target is. Most believe it’s Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who is officially available after the divisional loss.
Another possibility is that the Chicago Bears are genuinely interested. George played in the NFL for a long time and has four years of head coaching experience now. He was one of the unquestioned leaders in the locker room during his playing days, so it isn’t crazy to think he might be able to make the jump. Also, don’t forget George spent two weeks with the team in 2023 as an assistant coach for the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship program. The Bears got to see him work up close.
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A fourth possibility is it’s a favor interview to George to increase his profile. I’m guessing he does not want to coach at Tenn St forever.
A third possibility is that, while George is being interviewed for the HC position to satisfy the Rooney Rule, it’s also possible that they are considering him more seriously for a position like running backs coach or offensive coordinator. Of course, the new HC would have to be okay with that, but it wouldn’t hurt for the new HC to come in and be given a list of potential coordinators and position coaches to consider if he doesn’t already have someone in mind.
This is in person and counts to finalize Rooney rule per multiple reports. Things will start happening very quickly with this whole Tom Brady reports. Have a feeling we know by the end of the week if Ben Johnson is the coach or not. If he does sign this week with the Bears then I will assume this was the plan for awhile. IMO
Bear fans have immense pride. I’m not sure why but loyalty means a lot in the North. The rest of the country does not covet anything that Chicago possesses. The rest of the US does not covet Caleb Williams. They just don’t. Look at their comments. I’m sticking with facts here but many Chicago fans can’t be objective. Bear fans get emotional if you pick on the team. The rest of the country laughs with pity…”Duh Bears” they say if this team ever even gets mentioned. Can you objectively say that you blame them? McCaskey is running a pretender, year… Read more »
I believe Eddie George had been a coaching intern for the Bears a few years ago as part of an NFL program that helps college coaches gain experience and exposure, so this was likely a resumption of that relationship to help him out. Besides, unless it was in person, I don’t think it counts toward the Rooney Rule.