The Chicago Bears are not being coy about their pursuit of NFL veteran Mike McCarthy as a head coaching candidate, according to leaked plans about their upcoming interview with the former Dallas Cowboys head coach on January 16.
According to Marc “Silvy” Silverman of ESPN 1000’s “Waddle & Silvy” radio show, the Bears will host McCarthy for an in-person interview on Wednesday and plan to “wine and dine him afterward,” signaling how serious they are about his candidacy for the job.
“Word that I got is that the plan is that they’re going to wine and dine him afterward, and they have got a room set up to have one of these dinners with him,” Silverman said Tuesday during his show.
The Bears have interviewed at least nine candidates in their search for their next head coach, including Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel (hired in New England), Aaron Glenn and Pete Carroll, but McCarthy will become just the third to meet in person with the Bears this hiring cycle behind Ron Rivera and 2024 interim head coach Thomas Brown.
Granted, NFL rules prohibit the Bears from scheduling in-person interviews with many of the top candidates — such as Johnson, Glenn or Joe Brady — who are still competing in the NFL playoffs with their current teams. Still, the Bears could have hosted Vrabel or Carroll at Halas Hall for interviews and instead opted to speak with them virtually.
In other words, the Bears — for better or worse — seem quite interested in McCarthy.
Has Mike McCarthy Become Favorite for Bears’ Job?
The Bears walked away from the first week of interviews believing that McCarthy would not hit the open market and will now interview him roughly 48 after news broke about his split with the Cowboys. Life tends to move quickly when five other NFL teams are also searching for their next head coach and interviewing a similar pool of candidates.
Has McCarthy’s sudden availability made him a favorite for the Bears job, though?
McCarthy does have quite the resume for the Bears to consider. He won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 2011, eliminating Chicago in the conference title game. His offensive-minded coaching style helped mold quarterback Aaron Rodgers into a four-time MVP. He has also reached the playoffs in 12 of his 18 seasons as a head coach.
Then again, McCarthy is 61 and looking for his third head coaching job in the NFL after two different franchises moved on from him in the past seven regular seasons. Chicago may have legitimate concerns about his ability to lead a young locker room and relate to their young franchise quarterback, No. 1 pick Caleb Williams, as an older NFL figure.
According to the latest betting odds from BetOnline, Johnson is still the favorite (-250) to land the Bears’ head coaching job after his virtual interview on January 11, but McCarthy (+300) is trailing just behind him with the second-best odds. Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury (+450), Carroll (+700) and Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores (+900) round out the top five odd-getting coaches.
Bears Will Expand Coach Search in Divisional Week
The Bears are apparently rolling out the red carpet for McCarthy, but they are also not slowing things down with their other candidates with more interviews on the way.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears have put in requests to interview Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith for the vacancy.
Other insiders have also confirmed the Bears’ interest in the following candidates:
—Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach
—Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame head coach
—Todd Monken, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator
—Kliff Kingsbury, Washington Commanders offensive coordinator
—Adam Stenavich, Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator
While the Bears will likely not book interviews with every candidate — and must get permission in certain cases — it remains an exhaustive list for their coaching search.
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Bears Turn Heads With Leaked Plans for Mike McCarthy Interview