Bears can interview Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn in person on Monday

On By Littum

The NFL coaching carousel is coming into high gear this week. The NFC top-seeded Detroit Lions suffered a shocking 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round of the playoffs, sending them home to begin the offseason and officially benching offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, two of the hottest names in this year’s coaching- cycle, on the clock for their potential next stop.

Johnson and Glenn are now available to interview in person for open head coaching positions, which should speed up the overall process for teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears. In the Bears’ case, both candidates met with the team nearly a week ago, and it’s been a waiting game ever since. Chicago has interviewed more than a dozen other candidates, but now that Johnson and Glenn are no longer practicing in the postseason, they can meet with teams in person starting Monday.

Despite the lopsided loss, both coordinators are still highly sought after, especially Johnson. The 38-year-old is in high demand from the Jaguars, Raiders and Bears, and his decision should set off a domino effect for some of the other candidates interviewing for head coaching jobs.

Johnson has been tied to the Bears for a while, and multiple reports indicate there is interest from both sides. It’s still anyone’s guess where he ends up, but the decision should be made sooner rather than later. We’ll see if the Bears end up meeting with Johnson in person on Monday, and if so, what the next steps will be. Either way, this coaching search took a step closer to being resolved this weekend.