The Chicago Bears lose out on one GM candidate, a HC to follow?
The Chicago Bears have been linked to numerous general manager and head coaching candidates. By my count, they have completed interviews with eight candidates but had requested interviews with a few more. The same can be said with the general manager search. It seems that the Bears have interviewed 11 candidates for that position and are linked to a few other names, but interviews have either not been scheduled or completed at this time.
Right now, Chicago is one of four teams looking to hire a replacement for their general manager. Scratch that, now make it only three. The Bears, Giants, Raiders and Vikings were the four teams looking to bring in a new person to run their teams. The Giants announced today that they are hiring Joe Schoen as their replacement for Dave Gettleman. It also didn’t take long for Schoen to start making some waves after he was hired — more on that in a bit.
Joe Schoen is/was the assistant general manager of the Buffalo Bills. Schoen has been with the Bills for five years and previously worked in the front office of the Miami Dolphins as Director of Player Personnel. Schoen deserves some of the credit for turning the current Bills team into a perennial contender. He has a total of 20 years of experience in the NFL going back to his scouting days.
The Chicago Bears just saw Joe Schoen hired by the Giants, Brian Daboll to follow?
When looking at the four teams looking to hire a new general manager, the Chicago Bears clearly cast the widest net. The Vikings are right behind them with eight general manager interviews and eight head coaching interviews. In contrast, the Raiders have hardly interviewed anyone.
I’m not here to debate what is the right move and what is the wrong move. I want the Chicago Bears to find the best candidates and I’m not confident Joe Schoen was that guy anyway. I’m working on my general manager rankings (should be out this weekend) and Schoen did not make my shortlist — at least not on his own. The one thing that would put Schoen closer to the top of my list is his connection with Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll.
Brian Daboll is at the top of my head coach candidates list. It would be easy to assume that Brian Daboll is now the top candidate for the New York Giants and the Giants completed their interview with him today. The interview took place not long after the Giants hired Schoen. The one team I could see swaying Daboll away from New York is not the Chicago Bears. I am coming to the conclusion that the Bears are out on Brian Daboll, or I should say Daboll is likely out on the Bears.
There are plenty of links connecting Daboll to Miami since he was Tua Tagovailoa’s offensive coordinator in Alabama. Daboll convinced Nick Saban to play Tagovailoa over Jalen Hurts and clearly, the two have a strong connection. I’d only assume that Miami would be Daboll’s top pick, but could Joe Schoen convince him otherwise? Leslie Frazier, Bills’ defensive coordinator, and Brian Flores, former Miami Dolphins head coach, are also linked to the Giants despite Flores and Schoen never crossing paths previously.