Bear Digest

How One 'Leader of Men' Could Be Difficult for Bears to Land

Analysis: Could reported instability in the front office and competition from outside deprive the Bears at chances for top coaching candidates?

Gene Chamberlain

Mike Vrabel would definitely fit if the Bears want a "leader of men," but would a leader of men want this organization?
Mike Vrabel would definitely fit if the Bears want a "leader of men," but would a leader of men want this organization? / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
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The rumor mill runs rampant late in the season with very little substance involved in the churn beyond the obvious until Week 18.

Occasionally a valid, legitimate report surfaces.

It only would make sense if one of the candidates for Bears coach will be Mike Vrabel because: he's available now, can interview before many of the top available coaches, can get a good head start on building a staff, is a proven winning head NFL coach and fits as a "leader of men," which is a phase being linked to the Bears' search more and more.

Actually, Vrabel is a consultant for the Browns now but if the Bears asked nicely he most certainly would be allowed to interview before others are allowed three days after the season ends, unless he has that already written into a contract.

However, Vrabel is a former Patriots player from the Bill Belichick era who could even wind up back in New England. The Bears could find they have competition for Vrabel if they do pursue him.

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo is only in his first year. However, a sourced report by Greg Bedard on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston says Mayo is coaching "for his job," over the final four weeks of this season with the 3-10 team.

It's surprising because it's Mayo's first year of rebuilding. Apparently the Patriots don't give away blank checks in the first year of a rebuild like the Bears did with Matt Eberflus.

Much of the early talk since Eberflus' firing has been about how great of a job the Bears position would be for anyone. But it would be easy for Vrabel to see New England as a better situation because of his status there as a legacy type.

Vrabel wouldn't come in there with a lack of experience like Mayo did, either. Mayo had never been above position coach when he took the New England head coaching job, but Vrabel coached a team in the AFC championship game.

In fact, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler identified for CHGO coaches with prior experience as what he has heard could interest the Bears. Flores and Vrabel definitely fit this and they are "leaders of men" types. They are not offensive geniuses, though.

Flores coaches for an organization Warren himself has plenty of connections with from past employment and, in fact, Warren was in the Vikings locker room glad-handing after Minnesota's 30-27 overtime win over the Bears Nov. 24 at Soldier Field.

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It will be interesting to watch both how Flores does Monday night against the Bears, because the Vikings defense really stunk it up against Caleb Williams' team in that earlier game, and also to see if Warren is in the Vikings locker room at Minnesota on that night, too.

In this regard, the Bears' schedule also sets up well for another look at Johnson's work. So far, what they've seen up close hasn't been as impressive as what he's shown against the rest of the league, save a 41-10 trouncing at the end of the 2022 Bears rebuilding season.

The Lions could have blown out the Bears on Thanksgiving but Johnson didn't seem as committed to the run in the second half as he could have been after they shoved the Bears defensive line off the ball in the first half, and it let Caleb Williams lead a failed comeback. The Bears made the Lions offense look bad at Soldier Field last year and even for 55 1/2 minutes in the game at Ford Field last year.

Leaders of men and leaders of offenses will continue to be the focus for the Bears and their two-man hiring committee, with Kevin Warren standing atop of it.

At least this is how the Tribune's Brad Biggs reported the hiring process shapes up, and the press conference seemed to verify this when they fired Matt Eberflus.

To some of the candidates moving forward, this GM-president relationship and the power struture itself might be interesting enough to inquire about before they sign on board for thrills, chills and a future with the Chicago National Football League franchise.


Unstable working environments are not usually desired by head coaches, be they leaders of men or leaders of offense.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.