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Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles Reveals Coaching Candidate Qualities To Pair With Caleb Williams

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles is staying put in his role and he'll personally select the next head coach. Is this good news for quarterback Caleb Williams? The likes of Ben Johnson and Pete Carroll are officially set to be interviewed. The Chicago Bears requested to interview Cowboys’ coach Mike McCarthy, but the attempt was denied. Mike Vrabel is also a name that has been circulating.

Kyron Samuels

Aug 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles looks on before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
Aug 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles looks on before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
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After a 5-12 season and a franchise-record-equaling losing streak, the Chicago Bears are on their way to making sweeping changes. It’s a necessary plan of action as repeating the same course in the forthcoming season with the current collection of talent isn’t acceptable. During the season, the Bears parted ways with coach Matt Eberflus and his coordinators on both sides of the ball. Interim coach Thomas Brown was able to aid in the development of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, but the results were not satisfactory regarding wins and losses.

The Chicago Bears will be naming a new head coach soon and one of the biggest questions outside of who’s going to be the hire is who’s going make the hire. When NFL teams aren’t having success, the coach is usually the first to come under fire. The general manager is the next in line. Third-year Bears general manager Ryan Poles has been on a presumed hot seat, but Poles not only reiterated he’ll be back, he let it be known he’ll be making the pick on the Bears next coach to pair with quarterback Caleb Williams. 

"I think for a young quarterback, there's an ideal fit," said Poles. "We're talking about leadership, accountability, some of those important things that carry over. Regardless of what the situation is, those have to be there. To ignore those just to go to the other side, I think that's a bad deal too. Really, it's the candidate that has the best collection of all those things. Yes, the development of a young quarterback is going to be a huge factor in that."

Poles’s tenure has been polarizing due to whiffing with on-field hires and some off-season acquisitions, mainly along the offensive line. The positive comes from a masterful job balancing the salary cap and a relatively high hit rate on draft picks that include some cornerstone pieces for the franchise. All in all, the results on the field have yet to bear fruit. If the Bears brass had chosen to move on, no one could blame them. 

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For now, that thought is water under the bridge. It’s time to make a hire and assemble a staff. The pre-draft process is well into swing and major events like the Reese’s Senior Bowl, the East-West Shrine Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine will be here in a matter of weeks. Not only do they owe it to the incumbent coach to give him as much time as possible, but their young quarterback must have structure as soon as possible. 

"Looking at Caleb, I thought he did some really good things, but I also know that there's so much more left in him, in his game and his skillset," Poles said. "I loved the flashes that he showed. I loved the two-minute drills and his ability to put the team in a position to win games multiple times this season. That's a championship-caliber trait. We watched that happen a lot, and we're going to continue to build off of that." Poles continued.

Williams endeared two different head coaches and three offensive coordinators in his first season in Chicago. Willams also played behind almost 20 different offensive line combinations during his rookie season. Despite those challenges, Williams rewrote the Bears rookie quarterback record books and even broke longstanding franchise records including total yards by a quarterback. Finding a coach who not only gels with Williams but knows how to assemble a staff to maximize his talent for the team is paramount.

"We're going to cast a wide net. It's going to be a diverse group. This will be different backgrounds from offense, defense, special teams, college, pro. We're turning every stone to make sure we're doing this the right way. We believe that is going to be really, really important. There's going to be some names that you don't expect that are going to surprise you because we're digging deeper than we ever have before." Poles emphatically stated. 

The likes of Ben Johnson and Pete Carroll are officially set to be interviewed. The Chicago Bears requested to interview Cowboys’ coach Mike McCarthy, but the attempt was denied. Mike Vrabel is also a name that has been circulating. No of those are surprising choices, though. The best answer for the next head coach is probably in those aforementioned names, but who are these mystery names Poles keeps alluding to? How would they help Caleb Williams? The future appears promising, but the official hire will be the true indicator of what's to come.

We’ll have to stay tuned. 

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Kyron Samuels
KYRON SAMUELS

Kyron Samuels is a former college and professional football player now a writer, analyst, & digital host. Kyron is a writer for USC Trojans on SI and contributes to Oregon Ducks on SI. A graduate and letterman at Jacksonville State University, Samuels was a three-year starter, two-time all-conference, and won three consecutive conference titles. After a four-year professional stint between the AFL & XFL, Samuels retired from football. In 2022, Samuels was inducted into the Fairhope Athletic Hall of Fame. Post-playing career, Samuels has become a credentialed sports media member covering the NFL, UFL, USFL, & college football. The NFL Combine, Reese’s Senior Bowl, & East-West Shrine Bowl are amongst the events Kyron has covered. As a guest and host, Samuels has been featured on ESPNRadio, FoxSportsRadio, & IHeartRadio. Outside of sports media, Samuels works as a scouting consultant and has experience coaching at the collegiate level.

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