Chicago Bears: Dave Toub the favorite to replace John Fox?

Could the Chicago Bears be preparing to replace head coach John Fox with a former assistant under former head coach Lovie Smith?

Sunday will likely mark the start of Chicago Bears’ head coach John Fox’s final week with the organization.

Entering their game against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Soldier Field, the Bears have four wins on the season. The Bears have clearly regressed in Fox’s third season as head coach and it would appear that general manager Ryan Pace will undoubtedly make a change as soon as New Years Day.

Nothing good will come from examining what wrong under Fox. For all involved, the best thing that the Bears can do is move forward. Pace is going to need to hit a home run with the hire of the Bears’ next head coach. Could Pace’s home run be a former Bears’ assistant that worked under Lovie Smith?

Earlier this week, NFL reporter Benjamin Allbright linked the Bears’ to current Kansas City Chiefs’ special team’s coordinator Dave Toub:

It does not take a rocket scientist to determine that those two teams are the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts. Toub spent the first decade of the 2000s with the Bears as their special team’s coordinator under Smith. Since leaving the Bears in 2012, Toub has called Kansas City home under Andy Reid.

Meanwhile, the Colts’ general manager is Chris Ballard. Toub worked with Ballard during his time with the Bears and Chiefs.

Allbright did confirm that the Bears and Colts were indeed the two teams that have Toub high on their list of prospective head coaching candidates.

Allbright is usually pretty clued in on the happenings around Halas Hall, which means there is a strong chance that Toub’s name has come up in discussions between members of the Bears’ front office recently.

For what it’s worth, Toub did indeed interview for the Bears’ head coaching vacancy after Smith was fired in 2012 and once again in 2015 before Fox was hired.

In each instance, Toub was never considered to be a legitimate candidate for the Bears’ vacancy.

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Toub has long been considered to be a head coach in the waiting. It doesn’t hurt the fact that, while waiting for a head coaching opportunity, Toub has been working under Reid while with the Chiefs. As such, Toub would certainly be an ideal candidate for the Bears to replace Fox with.

While on the topic of candidates to be next Bears’ head coach, it’s important to remember an important element, the job is not going to be attractive.

The Bears do have the selling point of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky but that is not going to be large enough for the team to have the most desirable vacancy this off-season. But, in all honesty, that does not matter. The only thing that matters for Pace and the Bears’ organization is for the team to find the right candidate. It doesn’t have to nor will it likely be a big-name candidate. But as long as the Bears’ next head coach is the right candidate for the job, then they may see the same success that the Los Angeles Rams are experiencing this season.

Next: Jeff Fisher is not a match for the Chicago Bears

Who should be the next head coach of the Chicago Bears? Sound off in the comments section with your thoughts.