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OK, and now, AFTER my guys said it, Adam Schefter is confirming.

Breaking news from my guys with inside sources, saying Johnson is the guy, and the decision is made. If you see it in mainstream press in the next hour, then that's a pretty good sign my guys do in fact have their sources But yeah, it's real.

yes, that wasnt on Johnson, I agree.

I would choose McCarthy, but I see there is like a 50/50 chance Johnson will be much better, but the other side of that coin is that he is like another Trestman; good on the chalkboard, but not a head coach. But my comment here was about process. If they dont pick the guy I want, that doesnt make them a clown show in my eyes. But if they truly are looking at 15+ candidates seriously, then they are idiots. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I'll hope they have had 3 or 4 guys targeted this whole time, and the rest of the interviews were favors, Rooney rule stuff, gather intel on opponents, making long term connections and/or scouting possible coordinators. But if they are serious, and literally thought 15 guys could be the guy and really just dont have a vision, then they should all be fired. And if they are still screwing around by thursday, we will know they are idiots. Unless we end up with Joe Brady, and then we will know why they waited, with a plan.

so far either 1) the Bears have a clear plan and most of these interviews are fact finding, favors, Rooney rule, or early coordinator activity or 2) the Bears front office are out of their minds and should all be fired. If we dont have a coach by Thursday at noon, then we know it's #2. The only caveat would be if we end up with Joe Brady. Otherwise, it's the clown show we are all hoping it isn't.

all good points. And a ham sandwich would be an improvement vs past cycles LOL especially if it came on some good bread.

I think Kingsbury is tremendously underrated, but that's mostly because I dont think Daniels in more than a one read or run QB. Daniels does a LOT of other things right, including having a rocket for an arm with insane accuracy though. BUT Kingsbury is also considered to be kind of an ahole, and so even though i think he has done a tremendous job with Daniels, I dont know if he is the right head coach for us. I think Johnson is a tremendous offensive mind, and it would be such a relief to have a guy who takes the run game seriously for once in the last several decades. But I think it's a coin flip on his head coaching leadership abilities. If we go that way, i sure hope he works out. McCarthy seems the safest bet to me. The highest floor. He's proven as a leader and a winner. But is he as innovative as Johnson? Probably not.

I dont mean to imply that it was ONLY to satify the Rooney rule, just that it does. Eddie George is a truly incredible person, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him have lots of success. I dont think he is ready for an NFL head coaching job yet, but I wouldnt really know. I havent been following his current team at all.

I've read some guesses that the public info about asking about Tomlin was a non tampering signal to Johnson (or anyone) that the Bears would be willing to pay better than they have in the past. We know what Tomlin makes, so if we traded, we'd have to pay it - therefore it is a signal to the league that the Bears are willing to pay, which is a counter to the idea that the Raiders might outbid us for Johnson, without actually telling Johnson's agent that and running afoul of tampering rules. For example, Ive read some rumors that the Bears inquired after trading for Kevin OConnell, but that was not made public, so if the Tomlin move was, there's a reason. Also, scheduling George for this morning means that strategically, you could go after any losing playoff coach tomorrow if they were to become available. Not that you assumed Johnson or the Bills would lose, but just in case either or both did, youd be ready if you wanted to pull the trigger? All reading tea leaves, nothing sourced or factual, but still interesting to think about.

Bears are scheduled to meet with Eddie George to interview for the head coach position tomorrow morning. It's a bit of a surprising name, but he did just win coach of the year as head coach of Tennessee State. But mostly, after he is interviewed, and having already spoken to Ron Rivera, the Rooney rule is now satisfied and the Bears could then announce a hiring decision as early as tomorrow afternoon. With the Rooney Rule now satisfied, and Johnson available, if a decision doesn't come soon, then we can assume that the Bears don't know what they are doing, and really are interviewing so many candidates because they don't know what they're looking for, or have settled strongly on a coach still alive int he playoffs, like Buffalo's OC for example.

so, this is fine to say. but it's the same as when I post some article that isn't sourced etc. My point here isn't to put yours down, just to say these kind of things are interesting, and unreliable as we all know, and its cool when you do it and when i do it too

As far as Johnson is concerned, the Raiders have no QB, have no draft capital to get one, and play in a division and conference with much tougher competition, and more quality QBs. The strategic move would be to stay in the NFC, and find a team with good young QB.

Watching the game tonight, really the first full game I've seen of the Commanders this year, I was left feeling exactly the same about Jayden Daniels as i did before the draft. The guy has a monster arm, is crazy accurate on long throws, runs well, and is a one read QB. I watched his helmet on every pass play and I only saw 2 where he moved his head to look somewhere else. One of them, he was just looking off the defender so he could go back to the guy he'd been staring down. Obviously Kingsbury has designed an offense to maximize Daniels' abilities, and it looks deadly. I feel like this same offense could have gotten the best out of Justin Fields too. This isn't the offense I'd run for Caleb at all. But all I can say about Kingsbury is he ran the right offense for the guy he had. I can't say he would have the same scheme with Caleb at all. Kingsbury may be a jerk, but he is definitely a bright offensive mind. On the other side of the field, Johnson is a master of the running game. His scheme is solid, and of course he has a great OL and two good backs. most coaches would look good with that, but Johnson clearly shows a mastery of run fits that a lot of teams would love to have. So it isn't just the roster. But would those run fits work with an inferior OL and RBs? I doubt it. Johnson also had some nice trick plays - very clever stuff. The reverse shovel pass is something I've never seen. Really cool. As far as sideline demeanor, I thought Kingsbury had more fire and Johnson was more in his head. I respect Johnson, but I'm really not sure he's a good gamble for us. That doesnt mean I know he will be a bad choice, more like it's a coin flip, and that's a lot to gamble Caleb on. i wouldnt do it, but if we do, theres still a good chance it'll work out well too. I'm not even sure Kingsbury is a high choice from me to be head coach either, but I feel like he would have the edge with me if I could only choose from those two. One thing is clear. Whoever we get as our next coach, OL coach Chris Morgan is gone. And that is a start!

I agree with this

While we wait for actual info - here's a question. Maybe it helps bring the qualities we will need into focus. If you could have any head coach in the NFL, who would you choose? Andy Reid is kind of obvious, but then you don't get to bring Mahomes with him. Just like Johnson cant bring his OL. Also you get them at their current age. Who is your #1 NFL coach to bring here?

Of course youre right. If Johnson is the head coach he will be the head coach, but Rivera could be bad cop. He will certainly demand accountibility on the defense, and that will bleed over too. I assume Johnson will too, but I am concerned about how tough he is. With Rivera here it mitigates some of my concerns.

well I have never once met Pete Carroll, so for sure I don't know what he would or wouldn't do. If he was willing, I agree that'd be a great situation.

Id love that, but I dont see either of them agreeing to that. I think the best hope is to get a strong culture builder as DC, maybe Ron RIvera?

this is my greatest concern with McCarthy too

Interesting thought on Waddle and Silvy today with Michael Wilbon. If we do go with Ben Johnson, what about Ron Rivera as DC? He would certainly bring accountability to the locker room. he could play that Dan Campbell role for us from the DC position, and he could give head coaching experience advice to Johnson who would be new to it. I gotta say, I don't hate the idea of having a tough former head coach as DC to address some of the worries i have about Johnson. And that said, i would keep 10 miles away from Flores in any role.

I think this is exactly it.

I think that for the last year, and until a week or two ago, Poles knew Johnson was his top target. Now that McCarthy is in the mix, that calculus might be changing. I just hope Poles is flexible enough mentally to reevaluate his situation, and isn't stuck in mental inertia, having trouble letting go of his earlier thoughts. I think about how he almost traded up with the Giants to get Odunze. Is he flexible enough to deal with a change in the situation? Or is he too dogged and has trouble letting go of plans? I sure hope he isn't thinking about playing them off of each other, or worse yet, likes McCarthy best but is waiting to do due diligence on Johnson. That would be a huge mistake. If you like McCarthy best right now GRAB HIM, you dont wait to make your bets until you've seen everyone's cards. It's too late then. Like you say, it won't last long. On the other hand, if he IS flexible, and he still prefers Johnson, then while I might not agree with his choice, then he is still playing his cards right. I really don't trust Poles.

This is exactly my thinking too. You took the job security CYA approach to explaining it, but it also goes for what is best for the franchise too. If we become a yearly playoff team, and can't get over the hump, then it would be a good time to bring in that hot shot scheme guy, after the foundation is set. But there is nothing about hiring McCarthy that means we cant get a hot shot OC too. This is also true of Carroll, who has the added plus that the OC would be an asst head coach and heir apparent. That means you dont lose the guy AND you can probably get the best candidates too because of the increased title and opportunity. I prefer McCarthy or Carroll (I dont know which I want more?) over Ben Johnson for SURE.

damn can you imagine?!

Both of our running backs could use an upgrade, and I dont know any names yet, but I dont doubt your research. Consider also that if you upgrade the OL, every running back looks better!