The Chicago Bears have a terrible reputation when it comes to timing. They always seem like they’re a year too early or a year too later on the most vital team decisions. In regards to quarterbacks they took Jim McMahon in 1982. A year later they could’ve had Jim Kelly or Dan Marino. In the matter of premium offensive coaches they could’ve had Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan. Instead they chose to keep John Fox for another year.
McVay is 6-2 and his quarterback is heading towards a Pro Bowl. Fox is 3-5 and his quarterback hasn’t reached 200 yards passing in any of his four games this season. There is a growing belief that GM Ryan Pace could look to make a change next January. One aimed towards making Mitch Trubisky a success like what the Rams and Eagles have done.
There’s just one problem A glance ahead to the available crop of names in 2018 doesn’t look nearly as enticing as it did in 2016. There is no McVay or Shanahan. Or in Pace’s mind there may not be a Sean Payton. This could present a huge challenge for the franchise.
Chicago Bears list of options is riddled with question marks
This isn’t to say the right man for the job isn’t out there. To borrow a phrase from crab fishermen, there don’t appear to be many “keepers” out there. Not at present. If one were to go through the list of viable offensive candidates, there almost always appears to be a problem with them.
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Frank Reich (Philadelphia Eagles)
His offense is the hottest in the NFL right now, so naturally Reich is a big name. He’s been a coordinator for a few years with decent success. On top of that he is a former backup QB himself, in fact maybe the greatest of all-time. At the same time he’ll be 56-years old in December. That means he’ll be 57 by the end of his first year with Trubisky. That is awfully old for a guy to get his first head coaching job, especially since he’s only been coaching since 2008.
Matt Lafleur (Los Angeles Rams)
He has deep connections to both McVay and Shanahan with loads of success as a quarterbacks coach. He’s in his first year ever as an offensive coordinator and it’s hard to argue with the results. The Rams are on pace for over 500 points. So how much of that is him and how much is McVay? Lafleur isn’t the one who calls plays. This makes it difficult to determine the extent of impact he has on the actual success of the offense.
Josh McDaniels (New England Patriots)
In terms of experience this is probably the candidate to beat. McDaniels has two Super Bowl rings as a coordinator and a reputation for being one of the deadliest play callers in the league. He also brings prior head coaching experience, though most of that was ugly in Denver. So what’s the problem? Strong hints coming out of New England suggest McDaniels aims to stay there and take over for Bill Belichick whenever he retires. On top of that it’s believed any job he takes would require significant control over personnel decisions. Last but not least? As mentioned earlier he was a disaster in Denver, being fired 12 games into his second season.
Matt Nagy (Kansas City Chiefs)
Given the success of Doug Pederson in Philadelphia, it makes perfect sense teams would be looking at the next Andy Reid disciple in Kansas City. That is Nagy. He too is a former quarterback, so he understands how to coach the position. Alex Smith has had the best stretch of his career under his watch. However, like Lafleur he hasn’t been a coordinator for long (in second season) and doesn’t call plays. This makes it difficult to gauge how prepared he is to run his own team.
Pete Carmichael Jr. (New Orleans Saints)
A longtime Pace connection. Pete Carmichael Jr. has been offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints since 2009 and with the team since 2006. Drew Brees’ stretch of greatest career success may be highlighted by Payton, but Carmichael is right there as well. He doesn’t call the plays but none of his offenses have ranked lower than sixth in nine seasons. The red flag with him is the utter lack of interest from teams for a head coaching job up to this point. Given how much sustained success he’s had, the inability to even be mentioned in head coaching conversations raises serious questions.
John Morton (New York Jets)
He’s the hot ticket of late. Why? Mostly because, as Tarik Cohen loves to put it, “He makes chicken salad out of chicken s**t.” The New York Jets handed him a 38-year old journeyman quarterback, an offensive roster of old or depleted positions and told to be productive. Somehow Morton has. Josh McCown is having the second-best season of his career and the Jets are 4-5. So why hesitation? This is Morton’s first year as an offensive coordinator. It seems dangerously premature to hand him an entire team so soon after getting that promotion.
