The latest on the Chicago Bears assistant coach search

New Chicago Bears head coach John Fox has historically filled out some very good coaching staffs. His first coaching staff in Carolina featured Jack Del Rio as his defensive coordinator and Dan Henning as offensive coordinator. Henning spent seven seasons as a head coach prior to working with Fox, and Del Rio was a young hot shot assistant that parlayed his 1st season with Fox into a head coaching job himself.

Fox's first year in Denver featured two coordinators that both went on to become head coaches. Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, who was retained by Fox when he took over in 2011, went on to become head coach of the San Diego Chargers in 2013. Dennis Allen, whom Fox brought on as defensive coordinator in 2011, was hired as head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2012.

Fox reunited with Del Rio as his D.C. in 2012, and then after three solid seasons in Denver, Del Rio received a 2nd head coaching opportunity with the Oakland Raiders just a couple of days ago.

When McCoy left for San Diego, Fox promoted Adam Gase to offensive coordinator and now Gase has been making the rounds as a head coaching candidate himself.

John Fox has been coaching in the NFL for 25 years, so you would imagine he's made a lot of friends and connections during that time.

3. If Harry Caray was mayor of Rush St., Fox is the mayor of the NFL.

— Dan Pompei (@danpompei) January 16, 2015

Fox will be able to pull from his vast Rolodex of contacts to field a quality coaching staff.

There have been plenty of names linked to the Bears already so we'll tell you what we know for sure.

The Bears requested permission to interview Tennessee Titans tight ends coach Mike Mularkey for their offensive coordinator position, but Tennessee denied them.

Although Mel Tucker still technically hasn't been relieved of defensive coordinator duties (yet), former San Francisco defensive coordinator Vic Fangio met with the Bears Saturday to discuss what is presumably the DC position. Fangio will also meet with the Washington Redskins tomorrow about their DC position. Fangio is probably the most sought after defensive coordinator looking for a job right now.

One logical choice for new Bears DC is Dennis Allen, who was fired by the Raiders during the 2014 season. Allen was up for a few other coordinator positions, but he's still on the market.

Kyle Shanahan, late of the Cleveland Browns, was linked to Fox last week, but he hasn't had an official interview with the Bears. Shanahan has seven years experience as an NFL offensive coordinator. He recently turned down a chance to interview with the 49ers for their O.C. position and he's a strong possibility to land in Baltimore if the Ravens lose their O.C. to the Broncos.

It looks like Adam Gase won't land a head coaching job this off season, but he is interviewing with Jacksonville for their offensive coordinator position. The Bears have yet to be officially linked to Gase.

Update: According to Ian Rapoport, the Bears have sought and received permission to speak to Gase:

#Broncos OC Adam Gase interviews with #Jaguars for OC today. Plenty of options, tho. OAK, STL, ATL & CHI have permission to talk to him

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 18, 2015

Once we have anything concrete, we'll pass the info along and be sure to follow our John Fox and Coaching Staff story stream.