DABEARSDABOMB

Yeah - I don't see him taking the Bears job. He is my preferred candidate and I wanted to go the Bills duo, but it seemed like Giants had circled the wagon on their GM a while ago and with the connection and past relationship I think it will be hard for any team not named the Giants to get Daboll. I can cross my fingers and hope that isn't true - but it certainly appears that way. But like you - I do want to get the GM right first as I don't think they should have hired a HC (at least not the names being listed) before having the GM in place. I do think the team could have moved quicker though - since technically the Giants didn't have their positions open as fast as the Bears, but after all the times the Bears rushed/got things wrong - I don't mind methodical, especially in a year with as many good front office caliber people as there is. I really think getting the front office/gm role right is critical because talent wins in this league. Coaching is also very important but we got to get the right person to lead all of the football stuff so lets get that right first. I do like the 3 finalist (or presumed finalist) in Poles, Khanh, and Brown. I would love Khan getting an elevated title and bringing in one of the others as GM.

I think Tabor has done a good job (that said I believe he is on a 2nd interview in Carolina for some position under Rhule). However - while Santos has been accurate inside the 45 - Santos has his issues. Not having a kicker who can hit from deep is a real issue in my opinion. When it comes to late in game game-winners, Santos is pretty low on my list when it comes to nailing a long kick (he just doesn't have the leg). We need to be careful - cause you can find someone worse, but despite his accuracy (which is really good) - Santos is very pedestrian as a whole cause he just has one of the weakest legs of all the kickers in the league. Hopefully he can put some work on that - but I think his power was impacted by those injuries that impacted him (when he left the Chiefs / his initial short lived stint with the Bears - but maybe he can get some of that strength back (while maintaining the accuracy).

I am only concerned if George & Ted tell the GM who the favorites are and who they need to interview. As long as that isn't the case - than I'm only mildly annoyed at the energy spent on the coaching front because maybe if they focused first on GM they would have been done a little faster. That said - now that they are getting close to GM - the new GM should have a heck of a lot more intel to go on when it comes to priortizing his list of coaches (ie. He gets the luxury of reviewing all of the initial interviews + combing that with what his own independent views/what he's heard from his network to form what should be a pretty well refined list with good data). I think there is a good shot that today is the day that one of the eventual GM's is interviewing. I truly believe between Poles & the 2 candidates interviewing today (Brown & Khanh) that one of those 3 is the next hire. I would bet on today's candidates - but I do seriously believe that Poles blew them away in interviews and now the decision isn't quite as easy. In an ideal world Khanh would be hired and you would get one of the other two.

I will continue to say Dabol…Dabol…Dabol!!!

What a weekend of football. Amazing. Feel so bad for the Bills.

20-20; Robbie Gould in career post season field goals. I was mad the day they cut him (someone could probably find lots of my posts on this board)…was even madder when they replaced him with an inferior kicker and am finally happy cause maybe this was the master plan - this kick might have ended the Packers recent dominance in the NFC north!!! I always remember the game winner he hit against Seattle in playoffs - the year the Bears made the Super Bowl (or at least I think it was that year).

They might not get that choice. They are massively over the cap and while they can restructure it - the run is near done with Rodgers. Wont be easy to bring back Adam’s with the cap pressures they have. They will still be good next year (if Rodgers is there)…but a huge question whether he stays or not given another early exit.

Hell yeah!!!

I hope Bills win to buy Bears at least a week with Dabol since teams in playoffs can’t interview past tomorrow.

He actually was pretty good with Lions. I believe he made the playoffs 3 out of 4 years and got fired after they were in the playoffs. If you think about that for a second that ain’t bad for the Lions. I think if Bears go with one of the defensive guys Caldwell ends up as the OC.

I think if he goes to Vegas - it is because they give him a Gruden(esque) contract. Bears aren't going to offer Harbaugh some crazy 10yr 100M deal (but Raiders might).

I think with Harbaugh - it really is probably some back channels to understand what is out there and than it just comes down to at some point if they want to - there will be no leak - it will just happen really fast and we will see - breaking news Bears hire Jim Harbaugh. But at this point - I also don't think Bears want to give any perception they were always going to go with Jim and my guess is Polian has advised them that no matter who they hire - going through a depth of candidates is a good thing because you will get a depth of insights and perspectives to help better inform you and quite frankly educate Bears ownership.

He has withdrawn himself from 3 different GM interviews over past couple of years. Some speculation that he didn't interview well. Some indications that he has an abrasive personality and some views that maybe he just is a much better fit as a scout (vs. a GM). In general - while he is clearly an elite scout - the fit doesn't seem right here. I really think it will come down to Khan, Morocco Brown (Colts - but more generally viewed higher in league circles in terms of GM potential), and Rick Smith. I don't think it is coincidence that those 3 will be some of the final 1st round candidates either. I also continue to believe if you hire Khanh - the GM role really is the quasi president role. He's the bigger business / cap / strategic guy and my presumption is he likely restructures the front office to bring in an Asst GM (potentially champ Bailey) and elevates some other roles to increase the overall horsepower. My guess is Rick Smith would do something similar. I still think some of the "up and coming" names they interviewed could also be on the docket to get hired for "other firepower" roles within the org. Or at least that would be the type of thing that would get me to start thinking the Bears got this right this time. Timing wise - while I hate putting a timeline out there - they got to get to 2nd rounds later in the week and make a decision no later than Monday/Tuesday. Than accelerate the coaching carousel and in-house and get that decision made in following week (unless there is a candidate you have to wait on hiring because of an extended post-season run). In meantime - front office can start building out plans for draft, planning the cap, etc.

I am thinking sometime late this week Bears hire their GM. My hope is by Wednesday they are bringing candidates in person / doing their 2nd round.

One would think it might - but evidently it happens all the time. My guess is it is such a small world it just happens a lot. Just like GMs and players might share an agent - although I think it likely happens pretty rarely. A lot of GMs don’t even have agents (which would kind of make sense - if you negotiate deals for a living do you really need an agent?). If you did only reason I would think you would is to let him be the bad guy so you aren’t and than working with the owner after pushing to maximize your value.

I'm pretty happy with that too. I think they share an agent as well (which usually helps, oddly enough). I do like your point - get one from the Bills, one from the Colts - ensure they can work together and let the sweet magic happen in Chicago!!!

Please let Olave be there - done and done.

We are spot on - that was all I could think about. Fields is such a great fit in that offense and Dabol just does such a nice job putting his QB in a spot to excel. And all the work he did to improve Allen’s accuracy. You hire Dabol and you are getting the guy who built that system. Allen is a stud - but he helped make Allen that good. No Andy Reid he was hiding behind. He was fully in charge of the offense and built it. When the league adjusted this year - he adjusted back. And he just had two straight games vs a Pats D where they didn’t punt (I think). That is crazy good. Especially when the 3rd time in one season vs Bill…a GOAT at scheming and you score 7 TD in first 7 posessions.

Yes - hire this guy asap. Don’t let someone else grab him. Get the Bills Asst GM too to pair him with or Dodds from Colts.

I mean just look at how Dabol uses Allen. He uses his legs and athleticism perfectly to put him in great spot. Designed runs but effective roll outs to pressure the D and make the reads easy on his QB. Fields is not very different from Allen when it comes to physical tools either. Man I am getting excited already.

Bears should just hire Shoen and Dabol. Seriously I don’t want to over think this. Bills have drafted well, made good trades, run a good team. Don’t get cute and take the two Bills guys. Than see if Dabol can go lure Fangio to be DC :).  I want Dabol building an offense around Fields. I also want Dabol bringing Ken Dorsey with him too!

So I wonder if Wolf/Brown are actually people you are looking to meet with now - but really getting insights for potential for new GM to bring as Asst GM. Schoen apparently had a stellar interview with Giants yesterday and would have comfort in Schoen/Daboll pairing. If I'm going Colts - Dodds is really the name I like. Less intrigued with the pair there, but probably cause I just don't know Eberflus enough.

They said the coaching crop is meh, but the front office crop is super deep and barely any teams hunting for GM's. Bears have a lot of great candidates and quite frankly i still say they might be able to poach a GM and add to their organizational depth by grabbing someone else. I still think Bears goal should be to pluck someone who can get promoted in a few years and have someone else within the org who can move up - create depth so McCaskey never has to really make this type of hire again.

Your list is awesome - I threw it into the original post. I still lean towards Daboll, Bowles and Quinn as my 3 favorite candidates (if they don't go Harbaugh). Josh McDaniels name isn't on here, but there are rumors Bears are interested but McDaniels won't meet with teams until after Pats are out of playoffs. I actually wonder if Pederson might be in play for an OC role. Especially if Bears hire a defensive HC.

I figure they are getting that independent assessment from Polian and this is just more data (as I believe some of these get recorded in remote setting) that this gives more info for new GM too. I also believe the Bears end up hiring more than a GM as part of this. With the wide net cast my guess is we see the new GM poach someone else from these interviews.