If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Chicago Bears over the past decade, it is always to expect the unexpected when they hire a new head coach. The tone was set in 2013 when they bucked the obvious move of hiring Coach of the Year Bruce Arians in favor of CFL standout Marc Trestman. Then, in 2015, they shirked the top coordinators for the recently fired John Fox. In 2018, they went after Matt Nagy despite him only having one year of coordinating experience. Finally, in 2022, they went for Matt Eberflus, who had almost zero interest from other teams.
That is why fans don’t seem willing to trust how this current search is going. While the Bears are interviewing several top candidates, they aren’t ready to believe the team will do the logical thing by hiring Ben Johnson or Mike Vrabel. It feels like only a matter of time before someone unexpected pops up. Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron becomes the first insider to raise that flag. He ranked the most likely coaches to get the job in Chicago. Johnson and Vrabel were #1 and #2, but his #3 was the real head-turner.
3. Todd Monken
I have a feeling that Monken is going to knock his interview out of the park. He’s almost 60, but he’s like Pete Carroll and has a youthful aura around him, and I think the Bears will totally be hook, line, and sinker here and totally buy-in. Monken is a local Chicago guy and has an extensive coaching record and I just have a feeling he will be a finalist for the job.
The Chicago Bears have good reasons to like Monken.
For one, his ascent as a top offensive mind over the past decade can’t be disputed. He first became an offensive coordinator in 2011 at Oklahoma State. Success there led to him becoming the head coach at Southern Miss, where he went from 1-11 in his first season to 9-5 by his third. In that time, he elevated quarterback Nick Mullens enough to where he cracked the NFL as an undrafted free agent. That success led to Monken leaving for the NFL, joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator. Jameis Winston would have the three most efficient seasons of his career with the coach there.
However, things really took off once Monken returned to college as Georgia’s offensive coordinator in 2020. Under his direction, quarterback Stetson Bennett helped guide the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. This is what led the Baltimore Ravens to hire the coach as their new offensive coordinator. Since then, quarterback Lamar Jackson has put together the two best seasons of his already stellar career.
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The sign of a good coach is when he has success everywhere he goes. Monken is that type of guy. He seems ready for his opportunity, and the Chicago Bears could be the perfect landing spot.
