NFL Exec Reveals Questions Coach Candidates Are Asking Chicago Bears

Luring a top head coaching candidate should be easy for the Chicago Bears, right? They're a charter franchise in a huge market. It appears they finally have a viable quarterback to build around. Lastly, there are only 32 such jobs in the world. Being picky makes little sense. However, an executive spoke with Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune about the situation. While he agrees the Bears will have no shortage of interested parties, there is already a barrage of questions George McCaskey, Kevin Warren, and Ryan Poles must answer.

Most of it boils down to the chain of command. Guys want to know who they must answer to and how much red tape could stop them from doing their jobs. More than anything, they need to know who has the final say in football decisions. Is it Poles? Is it Warren? If the Bears can't provide a clear answer, the odds of landing a top candidate get much tougher.

“I am definitely going to ask who am I reporting to,” the executive said. “What is that structure like? Who am I meeting with every week? Am I meeting with Ryan and then Kevin and then George (McCaskey) also? Tell me how many times I have to do that. I’ve got to run this football team.

“Who has final decision on the 53-man roster? Who do I have to go to when we are hiring assistant coaches? Who has that authority? If I get a bunch of, ‘Well, we’re all going to do it together,’ that says something to me as a candidate. That kind of confirms the press conference. OK, I really think that Kevin is my boss and I have to be good with that.”

The Chicago Bears need to figure out their hierarchy.

Warren said during his latest presser that Poles has the final say on the upcoming coaching search. McCaskey has reiterated multiple times that the GM is the head of the football operations in Chicago. However, Biggs reported that Warren is going around Halas Hall making it clear that he is the one driving the search. That kind of inconsistency is why Bears fans have zero faith this organization will get the hire right. They have no sense of stability or chain of command.

Maybe it becomes clearer if Poles is out of the picture, either by the Chicago Bears firing him or him resigning. In such a case, the next coach could be paired with a GM they may have connections to, similar to what Buffalo did. Otherwise, it will be a tough challenge for them to communicate to top candidates that they can handle the responsibilities necessary to turn this organization around.