Former Seahawks head coach “badly” wants Chicago Bears job

With the NFL regular season officially coming to a close on Sunday, head coaching interviews will be in full swing this week. Amongst all of the names linked to the Chicago Bears over the last month, a former Super Bowl champion is pushing hard to become the next leader of the franchise.

The Chicago Bears head coaching gig is super attractive to Pete Carroll

In a report from Charlie Campbell, the word around the league right now is that Carroll is extremely interested in becoming the next head coach of the Chicago Bears.

“Per league sources: Pete Carroll wants Bears job badly, and already is lining up top assistants if Chicago hires him,” Campbell reports. 

There’s a lot to unpack with Carroll potentially coming to the Windy City. He is a proven winner at multiple levels, having led the USC Trojans to glory and the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl. Some fans are worried about the idea of Carroll coming back to coaching because of the similar parallels it would bring to when the team brought in John Fox a decade ago.

While Carroll would be a completely different hire at this time with the Chicago Bears than Fox was way back when the concern is still understandable. Along with his 14 years in Seattle, Carroll has also served as the head coach of the New York Jets and New England Patriots. In his 18 seasons of head coaching experience in the NFL, Carroll has a 170-120-1 career record. The San Francisco, CA native has at least ten wins per year in exactly half of his seasons as a head coach in the NFL.

Based on the potential openings across the NFL, the Chicago Bears should take Pete Carroll seriously in the hiring cycle

Another job opened up in the league on Sunday afternoon after the New England Patriots announced the firing of Jarod Mayo. The former linebacker lasted just one season as Bill Belichick’s successor and the team posted a 4-13 record in the process.

With that job becoming available, some believe that Mike Vrabel could be destined to rejoin the Patriots as their next leader. The Chicago Bears announced that Vrabel is a candidate they intend to interview, but New England would certainly have all of the leverage if it came down to the two franchises.

Campbell’s report also referenced the Patriots job and those who were interested in the gig and even a nugget regarding the New Orleans Saints opening.

“The Patriots are a possibility for Ben Johnson, Campbell reports. Sources say Johnson loved Drake Maye in draft study last spring. Aaron Glenn is the favorite for the Saints.”

The hope for the Chicago Bears if they still want Johnson is that Vrabel could take the heat off him for the New England opportunity. Even then, the Jaguars could definitely make a run at the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. Glenn to the Saints makes plenty of sense. He has spent time previously as a player and coach, so his franchise ties run deep.

With all of the other openings that might become available as soon as Monday, the Chicago Bears front office will need to stay on their toes and consider all options for the most important head coaching hire in franchise history.