The Chicago Bears have their general manager in Ryan Poles.
Bears hire Chiefs exec Ryan Poles as GM
The major questions for new Bears’ GM Ryan Poles
With the GM now in place, you guys can head over to our new Bears head coach tracker right here.
Completed and confirmed interviews
- Ryan Poles has the job.
On Monday, January 24, the Bears announced completed interviews with the Steelers’ Omar Khan, their vice president of football and business administration, and the Colts’ director of college scouting Morocco Brown.
Defensive coordinators Dan Quinn and Todd Bowles met with the Bears about their head coach opening on Saturday.
On Saturday, January 22, the Bears submitted a 2nd interview request to Ryan Poles. He is the first finalist identified for the Bears’ GM job. (link)
On Friday, January 21 the Bears interviewed Bills DC Leslie Frazier for their vacant head coach spot, and they also interviewed Ryan Poles, the Chiefs Executive Director of Player Personnel, for the GM job. Both have worn Chicago’s Navy and Orange at one point in their lives.
Both Bucs OC Bryon Leftwich and Miami senior personnel executive Reggie McKenzie were interviewed today (January, 20) for head coach and GM respectively.
Ran Carthon, the 49ers Director of Player Personnel, met with the Bears on Wednesday, January 19 for the vacant GM gig.
Eliot Wolf, Patriots’ front office consultant, met with the Bears on Tuesday, January 18.
Monday, January 17 had two Colts interview with the Bears as they spoke with Indy’s defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and Vice President of Player Personnel Ed Dodds. UPDATE: Dodds has removed himself as a candidate for the Bears’ GM job. The buzz is either that his interview did not go well, or that he was uncomfortable with the line of questions he received from the Bears. The report is that they were asking questions that made Dodds feel as though they were looking for not only a GM, but also looking to feel out candidates for an assistant GM type of role.
Two Bills interviewed on Sunday, January 16, as both offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and assistant GM Joe Schoen interviewed for Chicago’s head coach and GM spot. UPDATE: Schoen accepted the GM job with the Giants.
On Saturday, January 15 Chicago interviewed Monti Ossenfort, the Tennessee Titans director of player personnel, for their GM job, and they also interviewed Green Bay’s offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and Miami’s assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell for their head coaching position.
On Friday, January 14 the Bears interviewed Saints Assistant GM & College Scouting Director Jeff Ireland for their general manager position and former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores for their head-coaching job.
On January 13 the Bears announced they completed GM interviews with both Browns VP of Football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Chicago’s Assistant Director of Player Personnel Champ Kelly.
On Wednesday, January 12 the Bears interviewed both Glenn Cook (Browns Vice President of Player Personnel) for their general manager position and Doug Pederson (former Eagles head coach) for their head-coaching job.
Head Coach Candidate Tracker
- Saints DC Dennis Allen did not meet with the Bears on Tuesday, because the Bears were focused on getting a deal done with Ryan Poles as their next general manager.
A second interview request has been made for Jim Caldwell and Dan Quinn.
It is reported that the Bears will interview Saints DC Dennis Allen for the vacant head coaching job. (link)
A second interview will happen with Colts DC Matt Eberflus next week. (link)
It’s expected that Jim Caldwell, current assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach of the Dolphins and former head coach of the Lions and Colts, will get an interview for Bears head coaching job. (link) Interview completed
A big one - Bears have requested to interview former Miami Dolphins HC Brian Flores. (link) Interview completed
Bears have requested to interview Dallas Cowboys DC and former Atlanta Falcons HC Dan Quinn. (link) Interview completed
Bears have requested to interview Indianapolis Colts DC Matt Eberflus. (link) Interview completed
Bears have submitted requests to interview both Tampa Bay Buccaneers coordinators - OC Byron Leftwich; and DC Todd Bowles. (link) Interviews completed
Bears have requested to interview Green Bay Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett. (link) Interview completed
Bears have requested to interview Buffalo Bills Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier. (link) Interview completed
And a request is in to interview Buffalo’s Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll. (link) Interview completed
Former Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson will be interviewed by the Bears. (link) Interview completed
General Manager Candidate Tracker
On Saturday, January 22, the Bears submitted a 2nd interview request to Ryan Poles. He is the first finalist identified for the Bears’ GM job. (link)
The Bears have a request in to interview Chiefs Executive Director of Player Personnel Ryan Poles, who was a UDFA signing by the Bears back in 2008. (link) Interview completed
The Baltimore Ravens director of college scouting, Joe Hortiz, is on the Bears list to interview. (link)
The Bears have requested to interview Miami’s senior personnel executive Reggie McKenzie, who was the GM of the Raiders from 2012 to 2018. (link) Interview completed
The Bears have requested to interview Los Angeles Chargers Director of Player Personnel JoJo Wooden. (link)
Bears are interviewing their current Assistant Director of Player Personnel Champ Kelly for a possible promotion to GM. (link) Interview completed
Bears have requested an interview with New England Patriots front office consultant Eliot Wolf. (link) Interview completed
Bears have requested an interview with Pittsburgh Steelers Vice President of Football Ops & Administration Omar Khan. (link)
Bears have requested an interview with Buffalo’s Assistant General Manager Joe Schoen. (link) Interview completed - UPDATE: Schoen accepted the GM job with the Giants.
The Bears have requested an interview with San Francisco 49ers Director of Player Personnel Ran Carthon. (link) Interview completed
The Bears have requested an interview with Indianapolis Colts VP of Player Personnel Ed Dodds. (link) Interview completed - UPDATE: Dodds has removed himself as a candidate for the Bears’ GM job. The buzz is either that his interview did not go well, or that he was uncomfortable with the line of questions he received from the Bears. The report is that they were asking questions that made Dodds feel as though they were looking for not only a GM, but also looking to feel out candidates for an assistant GM type of role.
The Bears have reached out to former Houston Texans VP of Football Operations Rick Smith. (link)
Indianapolis Colts Director of College Scouting Morocco Brown is expected to be interviewed by the Bears. (link)
The Bears have requested to interview Cleveland Browns Vice President of Football Operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. (link) Interview completed
Bears have also requested to interview Browns Vice President of Player Personnel Glenn Cook. (link) Interview completed
An interview request for New Orleans Saints Assistant General Manager & College Scouting Director Jeff Ireland has been requested. (link) Interview completed
The Bears have their team in place that will be conducting the general manager and head coach search, and that consists of Chairman George McCaskey, Team President and CEO Ted Phillips, consultant Bill Polian, Bears vice president of player engagement LaMar “Soup” Campbell, and Bears senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Tanesha Wade.
Hopefully the the GM will be hired first and he’ll have some say in the head coach, but with this franchise that’s not a given.
Be sure to subscribe to our WCG Podcast Channel so you never miss a thing.
- Jeff Berckes and EJ Snyder spoke with Pro Football Focus’ Brad Speilberger a few weeks ago about some general manager candidates around the NFL, so they cut that segment up and rereleased it as a stand alone pod here.