Mike McCarthy, Ben Johnson and the Bears’ coaching candidates

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  • Courtney Cronin, ESPN staff writerJanuary 15, 2025, 1:01 PM ET

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      Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, initially covering the Minnesota Vikings before moving to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports reporter.

CHICAGO — As the Bears’ coaching search entered its second week, a prominent name was added to a long list of candidates.

The Dallas Cowboys announced Monday that they will not bring back Mike McCarthy for a sixth season after the two sides failed to agree on terms for a contract extension. Chicago’s request to interview McCarthy while he was under contract in Dallas was denied by the Cowboys. Now that McCarthy is a free agent, the Bears were free to interview him Wednesday.

The Bears floated McCarthy on Wednesday afternoon, according to a league source.

The Bears’ list stands at 19 with interviews completed (9), interviews requested (9) and an NFL Network report of interest in talking to Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, whose team will play Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship game Jan. 20.

With the wild-card round complete, Chicago can interview a handful of exciting candidates, from Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

Chicago general manager Ryan Poles promised a thorough search that would include names that would “surprise” many as the Bears aim to dig deeper in this head coaching exercise than they have before. The goal remains to find a coach who will maximize the skills of the former no. 1-selected Caleb Williams.

Here is an overview of the candidates.

Conducted interviews

Thomas Brown, interim Bears head coach: Brown interviewed with the Bears on Monday and has also interviewed for the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator opening. No other coach has the type of insight into Williams and the Bears’ offense than Brown, who was promoted twice this season to offensive coordinator and interim head coach for Chicago’s final five games.

Pete Carroll, former Seattle Seahawks head coach: Carroll expressed interest in the Bears job in December and was the fourth interview the team conducted last week. He spent 14 seasons in Seattle, winning a Super Bowl (2013) and winning a national championship with USC in 2004. Carroll, 74, has the most coaching experience of any candidate the Bears are interested in, with additional stints with the Jets ( 1994) and the Patriots (1997 to 1999). He spent the 2024 season as an advisor in Seattle.

Aaron Glenn, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator: Glenn interviewed with the Bears during Detroit’s first-round bye. Detroit allowed 20.1 points per game. game (7th) and had the NFL’s best third-down defense (32.4%) en route to the no. 1 seed in the NFC. Glenn finished his fourth season in Detroit and previously coached defensive backs in New Orleans and Cleveland.

Ben Johnson, Lions offensive coordinator: The biggest name on the coaching cycle completed a virtual interview with Chicago during Detroit’s bye before interviewing with the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders. Johnson has coordinated a Lions offense that ranked No. 1 in scoring (33.2) and was second in yards per game. battle (409.5). Johnson spurned the Commanders for another head coaching interview last year and is in high demand this cycle.

Mike Kafka, New York Giants offensive coordinator: Kafka and the Poles overlapped in Kansas City for five seasons, including four when Kafka was Patrick Mahomes’ quarterbacks coach. For the past three seasons, Kafka has been the Giants’ offensive coordinator, calling the plays for most of his first two seasons before coach Brian Daboll took over the playcalling in 2024. The Giants had an offense that ranked 30th in yards and 31st in points per battle.

Mike McCarthy, former Cowboys head coach: McCarthy has led teams to the playoffs in 12 of his 18 seasons as an NFL head coach with an 11-11 postseason record and eight division titles. He was instrumental in developing Aaron Rodgers from the beginning of his career in 2006 and helped Dak Prescott set career highs in completions and touchdowns while becoming an MVP candidate in 2023.

There are reasonable questions about McCarthy’s game management, especially in the postseason, and the Cowboys were the most penalized team in the NFL (8.2 total penalties, 6.8 accepted per game) during his five seasons in Dallas.

Drew Petzing, Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator: Petzing overlapped with Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren for five seasons (2014 to 2018) in Minnesota, working with receivers and quarterbacks. After one season as Cleveland’s quarterbacks coach (2022), Petzing spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Arizona, where he called players for a top-10 rushing offense with quarterback Kyler Murray, who threw for 3,851 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in this season.

Ron Rivera, former Commanders and Carolina Panthers head coach: Rivera was the first candidate the Bears interviewed in person on Jan. 12. He spent 13 years as a head coach for two NFL franchises (Washington and Carolina) and compiled a 102-103 record while being named Coach of the Year twice. He also guided the Panthers to Super Bowl 50 after the 2015 season.

Rivera hasn’t had a winning season in the NFL since 2017, but boasts experience building the type of culture that the Poles, Warren and chairman George McCaskey believe is essential to getting the Bears back on track. The 63-year-old was a linebacker for the Bears for nine seasons and was the team’s defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2006.

David Shaw, former Stanford head coach/current Broncos senior personnel director: Shaw has coached in the NFL and college football and spent the 2024 season as senior personnel director for the Broncos. He developed quarterback Andrew Luck into the first overall pick while at Stanford and also coached Houston quarterback Davis Mills.

Anthony Weaver, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator: Weaver just finished his first season in Miami coordinating a defense that was 10th in scoring and fourth in total defense. His pedigree as an NFL coach is anchored along the defensive line, where the Bears finished ninth with 40 sacks this season. The 52-year-old coach and seven-year NFL defensive end spent the 2022-23 season in Baltimore as the defensive line coach and assistant head coach for John Harbaugh.

Desired conversations

Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach: The two-time AP Big 12 Coach of the Year set a program record for wins in 2024 with 11. Campbell has been at Iowa State since 2016 and is credited with developing Jets running back Breece Hall and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy into NFL starters while he compiled a 64-51 record. Campbell has never coached in the NFL.

Joe Brady, offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills: Perhaps the biggest endorsement Brady received was when Bills quarterback Josh Allen jokingly warned teams to stay away from his offensive coordinator. The Bills earned the AFC’s no. 2-seed in 2024 with no. 2-scoring offense and a top-9 rushing and passing attack. Brady and Williams have a relationship that dates back to when Williams was a 12-year-old camper at William & Mary, where Brady was the linebackers coach. When Brady was the coach at LSU, Williams was leaning toward college, but he transferred to Oklahoma when Brady left for the NFL.

Brian Flores, Vikings defensive coordinator: The Bears have seen Flores’ aggressive defense up close the past two seasons. Among the biggest names in this cycle, Flores brings head coaching experience over three seasons in Miami, where he compiled a 24-25 record and a defense that ranked fourth in the EPA. There will be questions about his ability to develop a young quarterback after his icy relationship with Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa.

Kliff Kingsbury, Commanders offensive coordinator: Kingsbury was hired by USC in 2023 to help Williams prepare for life in the NFL. The former Cardinals head coach developed Kyler Murray as the league’s 2019 Rookie of the Year and is on pace to see Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels win the same award after he set rookie records for completion percentage (69) and quarterback rushing yards (891) for an offense ranked as no. 5 in scoring (28.5 points per game).

Todd Monken, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator: Monken, 52, has extensive experience on the offensive side of the ball. He coached Stetson Bennett at Georgia to back-to-back national championships and has elevated Lamar Jackson as a passer. It has contributed to his MVP season in 2023 and record-breaking 2024 campaign, when he became the first QB in NFL history to throw for over 4,000 yards and rush for 800 in the same season.

Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator: Smith has head coaching experience with the Falcons and exceeded expectations with Pittsburgh’s offense for the majority of the 2024 season with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields as his quarterbacks. The Steelers made a tailspin in the final month of the season, losing their last five, including a wild-card game to the Ravens. Pittsburgh did not top 17 points in any of those losses.

Adam Stenavich, Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator: Stenavich has been in Green Bay since 2019, when he joined Matt LaFleur’s staff as an offensive line coach. While LaFleur calls to play for Green Bay, Stenavich’s biggest impact has been on the Packers’ running game, which ranked fifth in yards and touchdowns in 2024.

The Bears took a similar route under Matt Eberflus when they hired Luke Getsy as their offensive coordinator (2022-23) after he spent time under LaFleur as Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. Getsy’s first time calling plays was in Chicago, and the Bears’ passing offense never ranked higher than 27th in his two seasons as OC.