Chicago Bears Coaching Change Means Competition for New York Jets

The Chicago Bears are now the latest team doing the same thing the New York Jets are doing — looking for a new head coach.

Nov 28, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus on the sidelines during the second half against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. / David Reginek-Imagn Images

The New York Jets are looking for a new head coach next season. The last thing they need is more competition.

On Friday the Chicago Bears fired Matt Eberflus, creating the third head-coaching opening for the 2025 cycle.

Along with the Jets, who fired Robert Saleh in October, the New Orleans job is open after the firing of Dennis Allen.

The Bears (4-8) lost to Detroit on Thursday and the team’s clock management at the end of the game became the final moment of his tenure, as he opted not to use his final timeout as his quarterback, rookie Caleb Williams, had trouble getting the team organized for a play in the final seconds.

Last year there were seven head-coaching openings in the NFL.

The Jets have already started their search for both a new general manager and a head coach, as owner Woody Johnson fired GM Joe Douglas last week. To help facilitate that search, the Jets have partnered with The 33rd Team to help vet candidates. The organization is run, in part, by former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum.

The 33rd Team helped facilitate Washington’s GM and head coach search last year and the Commanders are in contention for a playoff berth.

That’s the sort of success Johnson is chasing as his Jets (3-8) are poised to miss the playoffs for the 14th straight season.

The Jets cannot interview candidates that are currently employed until after the regular season ends.

Saleh was fired after Week 5 of the season and Johnson did so without consulting with Douglas. Saleh finished 20-36 in three-plus seasons after he was hired in 2021 after serving as the defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers. He is currently an offensive consultant with Green Bay.

Douglas was hired from Philadelphia in 2019 and he never got the Jets in position to make the playoffs.

Johnson is expected to hire a GM first and then collaborate with him on the hiring of a head coach. It’s believed that Johnson will then accept an ambassadorship in the Trump administration and leave the team in the hands of his brother, Christopher. It was the same arrangement they used when Johnson served as the ambassador to the United Kingdom during Trump’s first administration.

There is at least one unemployed coach who is lobbying for the job and that is former Jets coach Rex Ryan, who was the last coach to take the franchise to the playoffs in 2010.