The Chicago Bears 2024 NFL season is basically over. You are seeing it by the way many of the players are responding. The team has all but forfeited the rest of the year outside of a few select players. Right now, it is all about the development of their young players. Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze are very important to this team's future, but even guys like Gervon Dexter, Terell Smith, Tyrique Stevenson, and Darnell Wright need to continue to build upon their successes and learn to reduce their amount of failures.
With Matt Eberflus becoming the first head coach to ever be fired mid-season by the Chicago Bears, the organization is looking to the future to find a new coach who can hopefully bring this team into relevancy for years to come. I wanted Eberflus fired at the end of last year, but that clearly did not happen. Now, we see a wasted year and the only upside is that Williams and Odunze have not been horribly impacted by a lame-duck coach -- unless you count all of the sacks Williams has taken.
There are plenty of big names to be considered, but one that was constantly being thrown around as a favorite option by many was former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. That will not happen now as Belichick has agreed to a three-year deal to go down to the collegiate ranks and coach the University of North Carolina.
At 72 years of age, and with little to show for himself after Tom Brady left, I wasn't a fan of bringing Bill Belichick in to coach the Chicago Bears anyway. Seeing him move on to coach a non-powerhouse college program is a bit stunning.
As it stands, Bill Belichick is the second-winningest coach in NFL history. Number three on that list is the one and only George "Papa Bear" Halas. However, over the last four years of his coaching career, Belichick has a record of 29-38. His coaching record without Tom Brady under center is 84-103. That's probably better than what we can expect from whoever the Bears hire only because I expect this organization to mess things up once again. Still, I already know Belichick was not the right guy for the job, and taking him out of the equation just makes things all that easier.
Still digging deep into the top head coaching candidates, but my early hope is that Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel, or Liam Coen are highly considered for the position. Joe Brady is another possible option but I fear we see another Brian Daboll situation -- a guy I was very high on when the last hiring cycle took place but has failed with the Giants. Who are you hoping they decide on?
