Getty Bills DC Leslie Frazier is set to get an interview for the Bears' head coaching position.
The first potential successor to Matt Nagy is slated to get an interview, and it already has fans divided.
The Chicago Bears are interviewing current Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier for their newly-vacant head coaching position, as first reported by NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero.
Frazier is currently in his 23rd season coaching in some form, and he has been serving as DC for the Bills since 2017. He was a head coach once before, leading the Minnesota Vikings from 2010-13, finishing with a 21-32-1 regular-season record in that span. He’s 0-1 in postseason play.
His subpar record with the Vikings coupled with his age (Frazier is 62 and will be 63 in April) has many Bears fans and some analysts wondering if he’s the right choice for a team led by soon-to-be second-year quarterback Justin Fields.
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Frazier Has Been Successful in Buffalo & Indianapolis, But Has Spotty Record
Frazier won a Super Bowl in 2006 with the Indianapolis Colts as assistant head coach/defensive backs coach under head coach Tony Dungy — more on that connection later — and he’s currently helming the No. 1 defense in the NFL. The Bills surrendered a league-low total 272.8 yards a game this season, and they also have the NFL’s best scoring defense, surrendering just 17.0 points a game.
Those stats aren’t impressing many Bears fans, it seems, at least throughout the Twitterverse.
Some fans noted Frazier’s defensive background might not be the best thing for young QB Fields:
If we waste Justin Fields on Ryan Pace and Leslie Frazier I am going to die.
If they hire Leslie Frazier and talk about history and 1985 we should burn Halas to the ground.
Other fans took it to the extreme:
While others wondered — and this is a reasonable thing to question — whether the team should be looking at head coaches before a GM is hired. Team chairman George McCaskey said on January 10 that “ideally the GM will be hired first but if they see a coach they do not want to pass on, they would move on a coach first,” according to Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune.
Some analysts, including SB Nation’s Jacob Infante, also aren’t high on Frazier in Chicago:
I’m going to be incredibly disappointed if Leslie Frazier is the hire for the #Bears.
He was a bad head coach for the Vikings, and going with an older coach with limited upside seems like a puzzling move for a team with a young QB.
Analyst Johnathan Wood of Da Bears Blog also put together a pretty damning Twitter thread showing Frazier’s lack of success as a defensive coordinator outside of Buffalo — which is concerning, considering that’s the side of the ball he specializes in.
When Frazier was first a DC in Cincinnati, he inherited the 32nd ranked D in points allowed. He had them 28th and 21st in his 2 years, and then they were 22nd the year after he left. Meh.
The NY Post’s Jeremy Layton repped many’ fans sentiments with this tweet:
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Tony Dungy-Bill Polian Connection Makes Frazier Strong Candidate
Bears fans may have to brace themselves, because Fraser could have an inside track to the position. McCaskey also noted in his year-end press conference on January 10 that former Colts President and general manager Bill Polian would be among the search team that selects Chicago’s next head coach and GM:
The Bears search team: George McCaskey, Ted Phillips, Bill Polian, Lamar “Soup” Campbell and Tanesha Wade.
The new GM will report to McCaskey instead of Phillips.
Polian worked with Frazier and Dungy during Indy’s Super Bowl run in 2006, and that connection makes Frazier a definite name to watch.
Here’s what The Chicago Tribune’s Dan Wiederer said about the Polian-Dungy-Frazier connection on December 30:
“Dungy always has respected Frazier’s communication skills and composed deportment. Dungy recalls standing beside Colts President and general manager Bill Polian at the 2005 Senior Bowl and wondering aloud why Frazier had just been dismissed as the Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator and wasn’t being flooded with opportunities.
Dungy also said this to Wiederer: “I was telling Bill, ‘I just can’t believe this. This guy is so good.’ Bill looked at me and said, ‘Well, we ought to hire him.’ I told him we didn’t have any spots open. And he said, ‘Well, if he’s that good, we’ll make a spot.’”
The Bears will surely be interviewing several other head-coaching candidates, and some of them should be offensive-minded. It remains to be seen which one stands out the most.
Even if the Bears defense has to suck for once.
I’m willing to trade it all for an elite offense.
Move on from the Bears of old.
Don’t bring Leslie Frazier here please.
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