The Chicago Bears have begun the process of finding their next head coach. Multiple names have already surfaced as strong possibilities for the job. The two most prevalent at this stage are Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. It leans into the plan the brain trust has. They either want an experienced leader who has won somewhere else or a sharp offensive mind who can elevate quarterback Caleb Williams. It isn’t a bad idea.
However, insiders hinted shortly after Matt Eberflus was fired that there is another route the Bears could go: college. The organization hasn’t hired a head coach straight from the collegiate ranks since 1930. However, team president Kevin Warren has deep connections there and may look to exploit them. Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman was quickly mentioned as a possibility. The same goes for USC head coach Lincoln Riley, who developed Williams. Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog is hearing that it is unlikely to happen for one specific reason.
I’ve been tweeted the name Dan Lanning by multiple folks, but I was told the Bears are not going to take a shot on a college coach with zero professional experience. That also includes Lincoln Riley.
College coaches coming to the NFL is nothing new, but it has rarely worked over the years. Too often, it becomes clear that those coaches just don’t understand how to communicate with a veteran locker room compared to one filled with 18-20-year-old kids. Lanning, Riley, and Freeman have never coached in an NFL locker room once in their careers. Meanwhile, when you think about successful transitions like Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh, and Tom Coughlin? They all have the same thing in common. They spent time in the NFL as assistants. Harbaugh was a QBs coach in Oakland. Carroll was actually a head coach twice in the league before hitting it big at USC. Before heading to Boston College, Coughlin was a wide receivers coach for the Eagles, Packers, and Giants.
There aren’t many college head coaches who fit this criteria at the moment. One is Bill O’Brien, the current head coach at BC. He spent several years in the NFL, including a long stint as head coach in Houston. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator in Atlanta for a couple of years before returning to college. Lane Kiffin was head coach in Oakland but was unceremoniously fired early in his second season. Unless the Chicago Bears feel like one of them is worth the gamble, it seems as if the college route is out of the question.
