DABEARSDABOMB

I think that is wishful thinking. Eberflus is a 4-3 guy and he's ran various versions of it with the Tampa-2 or more cover 3. Reality is tampa-2 is more of a base unit. His defenses have been highly rated everywhere as well. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Marinelli back in the building as a Dline coach (especially if Raiders end up with a new HC). Sounds like they were pretty close. This change will likely drive a push for some new trades and I am curious whether Eddie Jackson's skill set end up a better fit in this unit or not (part of me says this might create better opportunities for Jackson to be more in that sort of role (although that is probably wishful thinking).

Larry Brown Jr is a free agent tackle - could be a great fit (expensive but you basically set one of them at tackle - hope Jenkins works on the other side and let Borom prove himself for another role. Don't love the wideouts much at all - but will leave it up to Poles. I have seen enough mediocre wideouts and these guys just are more that fit that same list.

I can't complain. I don't get crazy excited but I have no issues. He's been successful in many shops, highly regarded as good disciplined leader whose teammates have a high degree of respect for him. He's been around the block a lot, in the good way - where I think we'll see someone who is very comfortable in his own shoes, which is really important when you start taking on that leadership role. It is critical to see what and how he thinks of the QB position.

I already know - it is a deep free agent class of lineman - some very good tackles and centers out there and I fully expect the Bears will sign one of them (maybe not two - but who knows, maybe they do go 2 - but I guarantee they make a free agent swing at upgrading the line.

I presume we will find out tomorrow - either one of these guys is getting hired or a new candidate is going to emerge.

Oh - I agree with you. If he just picked a different coach (and basically anyone else he would have picked that hiring cycle) - he is probably still the GM and they might have won a superbowl. Emery loaded the offense with more talent than this franchise has ever seen. I don't exactly remember whether Phil drafted Forte, but he did bring in Brandon Marshall, Martellus Bennet, Kyle Long, Kyle Fuller, and Alshon Jeffrey into the fold in a pretty short tenure. In particular - it was the only time in my whole lifetime where I could look at the offensive skill positions and say we had match-up nightmares across the field. If you paired that unit with Andy Reid or Arians (both available candidates at the time) - we are having an entirely different conversation. To your point - Emery clearly didn't get it since he got overly cute and hired Trestman.

When you are that way - you better win immediately or you are screwed. Just look at how he handled Brady - if Brady was others he probably doesn’t make it half a season before Bucs can him but Brady was type okay to get pushed like that and who had enough swagger from all those rings that he wouldn’t stress getting thrown under bus in public. If Arians did that to Rodgers or a lot of other good QBs he is probably gone and mentally breaks the QB. But when you have Warner and Brady - both with serious swagger - that combo is special.

Emery may not have even been that bad he just missed so bad on the HC that everything collapsed around him. Trestman was just so freaking bad.

This - I can't like tear any of them apart - but at the same time - none of them excite me as home run hires. That said - when New England hired Bill B., no one thought that was a home run hire either

Supposedly these 3 candidates were Poles finalist. So highly likely one of these 3 is the head coach. I also got the impression from reports that Poles was allowed to talk to various candidates (other candidates might have as well) - so he had a pretty good idea getting into this point of who he wanted (which was these 3 - but he has full atanomy to expand the list if interested). It did sound like Daboll's interview did not go well. Got the impression from some of the rumors that he came off too much as an OC and not someone who had / could really articulate the bigger picture around being a head coach. Could be because he was burried gameplanning for a playoff game, could be that this whole experience (interviewing for HC) is still pretty new to him relative to vast majority of candidates the Bears met with (many of whom had material #'s of interviews in previous cycles and/or are previous head coaches). Leftwich was one name who might make his way back - sounded like he was pretty impressive but there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the staff that left him (at least initially) on the outside of the finalist pool.

I do think, whether Poles believes in Fields or not, the HC he brings in has to be 100% in on Fields and developing a culture to maximize his success. Just like I think Poles has to do as much too (whether he buys into Fields as a sure thing or not - he has to build a team to maximize the chances for a young QB to succeed (knowing he can always flip in a new young QB if Fields doesn't end up being the guy). But whomever the HC is - has to be 110% in. Everything they do has to be around making the most out of Fields. Not jamming some other offense or something else around him. It has to be about building the right unit for Justin Fields (and the Bears) to excel. While Caldwell doesn't excite me - I genuinely believes he has a passion to coach Fields and it sounds like he has spent a lot of time around a vision for designing an offense built around him. I still think I would love Daboll and just hope quietly Daboll has that same passion but didn't want to overplay that hand knowing that with uncertainty when he first interviewed with Bears - he had to keep his true enthusiasm close to the vest - because he knows he has a good fall back option with the Giants. I really want to read that Poles met with Daboll. Just seems crazy to hire a HC when you have a young QB like Fields, without meeting with the #1 offensive based candidate out there..and I would probably say the same about Leftwich.

It did seem like the finalists were informed by the candidate listing from the GM, so it very well might be these were 3 of his finalists - that said, I would suspect there would likely be 1-2 others he would want to see. He also obviously has access to all of the other zoom interviews so I presume he has gotten up to speed and gotten to see others too. I don't want him to rush to a decision - this is a big move and the Bears can pivot pretty fast at this point - but with no coaches having been hired yet, they have some benefit of time (at least for now) so why not take it to ensure he is comfortable. That said - if he knows he's zeroed on his person - than go get em.

One thing to note: Quinn and Eberflus are both 4-3 guys. Not sure what that means for certain personnel or not. I presume Roquan and Mack are studs in both and technically Quinn I believe had some of his better years in a 4-3 as well. Quan would be the MIKE in a 4-3 right?  I presume you don’t need Goldman in a 4-3 or you need something different or does Goldman still work well? What about some of the other dlinemen? Or does Mack not move to line and instead become more likely trade candidate?

Busy day tomorrow - Quinn and Eberfus. Could be tomorrow they hire there coach or we will see if Poles wants to meet with anyone else later in the week.

This - I assume he will join Cowboys (or at least that would be his first choice).

That’s the one - you could say he may have got most out of Kyle and Rex too. If I remember right Cutler didn’t gel with Pep - think they brought in his guy from the broncos (Bates) as a replacement. But jay really wanted what he had with Broncos when he came to Bears.

Kafka is a legit good hire. I don't know if I love him as the OC - unless we are hiring an offensive minded coach cause he's still pretty green, but in general I like the idea of Kafka on a coaching staff. I also am very high on Pep Hamilton working with Justin Fields too (he's worked with Herbert, Luck, did wonders with Davis Mills in Houston this year...the list goes on and on).

It is crazy to me that he has gotten so little airplay this cycle. I know he missed on jobs the last two cycles - but usually a candidate with his pedigree gets the eventual momentum and lands the job (kind of like Fangio eventually got the gig). Him not getting a job this cycle would be a shocker to me. I do get the fact that teams don't like waiting until the end of the playoffs - but this cycle more than past cycles it feels like there was an increased patience on the HC hiring front. I mean at this point we still haven't had any team make a hire at HC (unless I am forgetting something).

Makes a ton of sense.

Evidently some reports out there that Khan DID NOT interview for the GM job, rather interviewed for the potential president job when Ted Phillips retires (next year). So Khan is in a holding pattern to see what happens in Pittsburgh but Bears did early diligence so if it were to open they could pounce on Khan. I like this - as long as there was some level of trasnparency with Poles around this being a future move (new head replacing Phillips) and so long as the relationship would be good. Otherwise - it would interject a real backwards power dynamic that could negate the hopeful positive that comes with the new GM. Note: This is even if the reports from DaBearsBlog (who has been pretty spot on throughout this process) are true.

I was with you - I would have gotten Fields, known you can't win with a rookie QB, and moved Mack and others to build some immediate capital so you can start shifting things towards the offense for a bit (or at least rebalancing so you are more equally split). I hope that is what Poles does. If he can get some more draft capital this year - and takes some of that short-term pain for long-term gain, It will build up a lot in my book. Than for any cap room that is left - find a good olineman or two in free agency (I would prioritize center and there are 2 very good centers out there in FA) and ideally get a wideout you believe can help (even if in 3 years you are cutting them, if they can help in year 1-2 with Fields that is important).

On Bieniemy - I figure Poles intimately knows Eric from his time in KC. So if he brings him in - I am on board and have full trust in Poles to get his target. If he doesn't bring him in - than that tells me everything I need to know about Bieniemy the candidate. No one should know Eric as good as Poles would. Dan Quinn is exciting - because he's charismatic and can find and lure great assistants. He has that CEO(ish) swagger as a HC and a superbowl appearance (and choke). He has issues too - but I wouldn't have a major issue. Caldwell is respectable, but has his flaws and has never ran an offensive unit with a good ground game, but likely could get some good coordinators and did outstanding work with the Lions (given it was the Lions - but still - there was a lot not to like about his time with the Lions). Eberus seems pretty intriguing and if you paired him with an OC like Caldwell or Bevell (built up Russel Wilson in Seattle) and someone like Pep Hamilton (who has been a young QB whisperer everywhere he has been) - that would be interesting. I do think we likely see 1-2 more candidates and Pix, like you, I would love it if somehow Bears shocked us and swooped on Daboll. I will also note that Poles very much knows Doug Pederson too - who could be an intriguing option as an OC (if he doesn't get an HC gig this cycle). But like Eric B - if he's out there and Bears don't go to him, it says something too. Plus - there is also the connection Poles has with Flores. Flores big problem was he didn't get along with front office - if this unity could work, there could be something to believe there (and maybe Caldwell works with Flores which was what was always supposed to happen in Miami but health issues got in that way).

This was a huge reason I was very confident in Polian. Beyond his resume - the Bears quietly had him look under the cover(s) during the season - which gave him a much better perspective on the current state, how things operate etc, and I think better positioned him to be very different than Acorsi was. I also think the extended time likely gave Polian a better perspective of George & Ted too - and likely helped inform insights he gave to George around the type of things the org needs to do different (probably all stuff the new GM would say - but w/George & Ted having heard it from Bill too - I think that extra push will put more weight behind them really putting Poles in a position to excel and built out a really talented team (which likely will retain many people that were in-house previously; it wasn't like the Bears drafts were bad, etc; they need different strategy on how to use resources and other things and maybe refine in areas and probably expand certian capabilities - but Poles isn't inheriting a dumpster fire either (which is what Pace techncially inherited from Emery/Trestman). That said - Poles certainly isn't inherting a ton of working capital to start - so one of his first orders of business has to be how he's going to handle the cap and create flexibility and whether he would entertain punting a year and moving some of the aging defensive players (take cap pain now - to create future flexibility and maybe get a few draft assets back along the way).

If I am the Bears - I at least make that phone call. Reality is Payton probably really wants a break and if Payton did want to go to Bears, there is the fact that they don't have that much draft capital.

Yep - I like it - they are moving with a purpose and we will see if the list of names gets expanded. Flores was a college teammate with Poles - but not sure how much that matters. I might be good friends with someone - but that doesn't mean I want them working at the same company as me, etc. Might be better not to work together in that situation.