In addition to a much-anticipated Ben Johnson meeting, the Bears are using Black Monday to roll out other interview requests. Four more assistants received invites for meetings.
The Lions’ other top coordinator, Aaron Glenn, will be a popular name once again; he is part of the Bears’ initial batch of requests. Chicago also sent out interview slips to Giants OC Mike Kafka, Cardinals OC Drew Petzing and Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport report.
These meetings will take place along with a Thomas Brown interview. The interim Bears HC is expected to meet with the team, via ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin. Although the Bears have realized the difficult situation they put Brown in, it would be rather surprising if he drew serious consideration given the team’s freefall during the season’s second half. It would then stand to reason Brown — the team’s pass-game coordinator, interim OC and interim HC this season — will be relocating for a third straight offseason.
Glenn, 52, has been the Lions’ DC for four seasons. Detroit’s group took a leap to start this season, with Aidan Hutchinson surging to Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner status. Hutchinson’s broken leg gutted Detroit’s pass-rushing capabilities, and other injuries impacted the Lions on that side of the ball. The NFC’s No. 1 seed, however, still finished the season seventh in points allowed. Glenn’s unit also closed the regular season with a strong showing in the winner-take-all matchup with the Vikings, a game that turned into a blowout thanks largely to a bounce-back Lions defensive effort.
While this might be the year for Glenn to break through, this is new territory for Petzing and Weaver. The Cardinals’ OC came up as a name to watch on the HC circuit earlier this season, though Arizona struggled after moving into playoff contention around midseason. Kyler Murray has also not taken a noticeable step forward under Petzing, who came to the desert after residing as Browns QBs coach under Kevin Stefanski. The 37-year-old play-caller coached the Cards to a 12th-place finish in scoring offense, however; that brought a nice jump from 24th in Jonathan Gannon‘s debut.
Landing the Miami DC job last year, Weaver was among three 2023 Ravens assistants to move up last year. The 44-year-old DC’s Dolphins unit also made strides despite not having Bradley Chubb throughout and not having Jaelan Phillips for most of this season. The Dolphins ranked 10th in scoring defense and fourth in yardage, marking improvements from Vic Fangio‘s year in charge. These marks came despite an offense that took major steps back as Tua Tagovailoa battled injuries. Additionally, Russini notes Ryan Poles has done extensive homework on Weaver — in the event the Bears want to follow a defensive hire with another.
Kafka’s stock may have actually received a slight boost this season, as Brian Daboll taking over Giants play-calling duties brought a steep descent. Kafka was at the controls when the Giants made a surprising run to the divisional round in 2022, though his unit — largely without Daniel Jones at the helm — declined in 2023. Kafka may also be a candidate for other OC jobs, with rumors about a split with Daboll — as the Giants may not block him from a lateral move this year — surfaced over the weekend.
I don’t understand the Petzing or Kafka interest. Honestly, I don’t understand why Poles wasn’t let go.
Bears have established a pattern of the ineptness that will misalign GM-HC-OC-QB for a fourth consecutive regime. Now that is consistency!!
Petzing is a very good coach that people in the league have seen as a rising coaching talent since before Arizona. He’s made that offensive line look a lot better than it should, and his run scheming in particular is very nice. I don’t know if he’ll get a head coach job before Arizona’s record improves more, but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get one in the next couple of years.
The idea of Kafka getting a head coach job this offseason is bonkers.
I didn’t know that about Petzing. Thanks.
Glenn
Does Kafka have a family connection or fill some requirement?
As a Giants fan, it baffles me that Kafka gets HC interviews every offseason. Bottom of the league offenses the last two years and people are interviewing him for HC.
That’s why he’s the perfect target for the Bears. The Bears organization is simply a dysfunctional group. No real leadership, vision or path as to how to run a football organization.
Kafka is about to be fired by the Giants .. such a Bears move
There was a story from a respected Bears insider that Matt Eberflus was on the chopping block as the Colts DC. If Eberflus didn’t get the Bears gig he would have been fired. The Colts played the waiting game and handled that one masterfully.
link to bearswire.usatoday.com
NY Press has Eberflus on the Giants radar for their new DC.
As soon as you see “respected Bears insider”, I would run. The only thing Irsay has handled masterfully is his alcohol and drugs.