There remains one more game on the NFL’s regular season slate, but the Chicago Bears are already weeks into their search for a new head coach.
A handful of names have already emerged as frontrunners for the position, though much of that talk has been speculative and/or tied to reports from last offseason when national pundits wondered if Chicago might move on from former head coach Matt Eberflus then.
However, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated offered some cold, hard reporting on Thursday, January 2, as to one candidate the Bears have already begun digging into in a real way: Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
“[Flores is] a Boston College teammate of GM Ryan Poles. He’s in Minnesota, where Kevin Warren worked for a decade and a half — and reviews have come back from the Minnesota Vikings to Warren raving about the job Flores has done,” Breer wrote. “He’ll have to answer, of course, for what went wrong with Tua Tagovailoa in Miami, given that he’d have a young quarterback to raise in Chicago. But, yes, I’d expect the Bears to take a long look at Flores.”
Brian Flores Fits Personality Profile Bears Want in Next Head Coach
GettyMinnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Warren’s connections to Minnesota may be just as important as Poles’ connection to Flores in terms of trusting the glowing information that Breer said is coming out of the Vikings organization where the defensive coordinator is concerned.
Warren also noted during a press conference following the departure of Eberflus that he and Poles would be conducting the search and making the decision on the next head coach together, adding that he wanted a “leader of men” commanding the sidelines.
While that description might mean a handful of different things, strength of personality and character are solid bets as characteristics at the top of Warren’s wish list, perhaps even as important as concepts of scheme.
That would bend the Bears’ search in Flores’ favor when compared with a lot of other potential candidates, as he has built his reputation in Minnesota atop both personality and an aggressive combination of exotic blitz packages and unique coverages behind them that have made the Vikings among the most dynamic defensive units in the league this year.
Ben Johnson May Be Better Fit for Bears’ Circumstances Than Brian Flores
GettyOffensive coordinator Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions.
The biggest mark against Flores is the single fault that Breer mentioned — his mishandling of Tagovailoa over two years in Miami, which led the quarterback to refer to his former head coach as a “terrible person” during an interview last summer.
Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams has had a rough go of it during his rookie campaign, as he has been beaten down by a league-leading 67 sacks through 16 games in 2024. Williams has watched peers like Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders and Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos develop over this season and lead their teams to winning campaigns, while Williams’ development has suffered — in part due to his circumstances.
Flores is a defensive coach and has been his entire career. That fact, coupled with a troubling history with Tagovailoa, make someone like Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson perhaps a better fit for Chicago.
Johnson is a renowned offensive schemer currently at the top of the league in that regard and also has the connection to Lions head coach Dan Campbell, who has a reputation as perhaps the premier culture setter in the NFL.
Given Johnson’s credentials and potential fit with the Bears, along with Flores’ credentials and his connection to the team’s decision makers, the two are perhaps the best bets to land the Chicago job (assuming either, or both, actually want it) early in the search process.
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