The second wave of interview requests has begun for the teams who let go of coaches and executives yesterday. The busiest of those teams, so far, is the Chicago Bears. In addition to the requests they made on Monday after firing Matt Nagy, another seven interviews have been scheduled for the Head Coaching vacancy. 
[Related: Bears Request Interviews With Bills DC Leslie Frazier, OC Brian Daboll]
Just as the Bears are interested in both Bills’ coordinators, they have requested to interview both Buccaneers’ coordinators, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). OC Byron Leftwich has held his title since 2019, where he reunited with HC Bruce Arians. Leftwich was in charge of the Super-Bowl winning Bucs offense last season, and has helped the unit put up the second most points per game (30.1) in the league in 2021. DC Todd Bowles also reunited with Arians in 2019 in Tampa Bay, and played a crucial role in the Bucs’ smothering defensive performance in that Super Bowl victory.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter), another request was made to Colts DC Matt Eberflus, who has also been named as an interviewee with the Jaguars. After an impressive stint as the Cowboys’ linebackers coach from 2011-2017, Eberflus took the defensive coordinator position in Indy in 2018, and immediately helped turn that unit around.
Next on the list is Cowboys DC Dan Quinn (Twitter link via Pelissero). Quinn has since been linked with all four current Head Coaching vacancies, making him the most sought-after candidate so far. His work with Dallas’ defense in just one season – seventh in the league in points allowed per game, first in interceptions, to name a few statistics – has put him in line to get another HC gig one year after being fired by the Falcons.
Per Pelissero’s colleague Ian Rapoport, Doug Pederson will also be interviewed (Twitter link). Pederson was fired by the Eagles exactly one year ago, and has also been linked with multiple teams. The 2017 Super Bowl winner, like Quinn, seems to have a good chance at rejoining the Head Coaching ranks during this hiring cycle.
Another popular name is Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett, whom the Bears will interview on Friday or Saturday, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer (Twitter link). Breer notes that Hackett has also received requests from the Broncos and Jaguars, as the 42-year-old has overseen one of the league’s best offenses in Green Bay for the past two seasons.
Last, but certainly not least, recently fired Brian Flores has been added to the list of interviewees, according to Pelissero (Twitter link). After three seasons – including the last two with winning records – in Miami, Flores was let go in what has been the most surprising move of the coaching cycle so far. The Bears are not expected to be the only team interviewing the 40-year-old, though nothing has officially been lined up with any other clubs yet.
Shouldn’t they hire a GM first?
They should fire Phillips first. Hire Amy Trask, then a GM, then a coach.
But it’s the Bears. Dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things.
Rinse, repeat, see you in four years after another round of bad hires.
Perhaps, but that could cost you a good candidate. Unfortunately, it is a tough situation. Ideally, yes.
By my count, that’s 4 former head coaches, 4 who were found wanting, 4 who in some way failed, 4 who were fired, thus making 4 who are quilty of what the critics in Chicago blamed Matt Nagy for—not winning, or not winning enough, or not winning the big one.
That’s basically the nature of the candidate pool for all the teams conducting searches though. Successful coaches are never going to be interview candidates because they’ve all secured long term extensions with their current team.
A lot of coaches go on to have success in their second jobs. Of the six coaches who won a SB the past eight years, five were on their second coaching stints.
Some notable second job failures exist as well:
Hue Jackson 3-36-1 with the Browns
Marion Campbell 17-29-1 with the Eagles
Harland Svare 7-17-2 with the Chargers
Romeo Crennel 4-15 with the Chiefs
Dan Henning 16-32 with the Chargers
Ray Perkins 19-41 with the Bucs
Mike McCormick 9-23 with the Colts
Dom Capers 18-46 with the Texans
Bruce Coslet 21-39 with the Bengals
Doug Marrone 23-43 with the Jags
I don’t think any of those had any degree of success in their first go round that warranted a second. Most of those were recycled in the fraternity guys.
Only 1 coach wins a SB every year. Winning consistently but not winning the big one is a bridge I would like to cross.