Could the Chicago Bears be tipping their hand with their interviews?

The Chicago Bears are nearing the completion of their second week of interviews as they search for a new general manager and head coach of their football team. The pace of the Bears interview process has been criticized as the team isn’t completed with their reported first round of interviews but several clues have emerged this week that would seem that they further along in their search than what they are leading on.

The first clue was the report that the Bears will be conducting a second interview with Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus next week. Eberflus’ initial interview with the Bears occurred on January 17. Eberflus, who also has a second interview scheduled with the Jacksonville Jaguars, is considered to be among the top head coaching candidates in this year’s cycle. Eberflus wasn’t originally considered to be a strong candidate for the Bears’ head coaching vacancy considering his defensive background but a second interview would seem to suggest that there is legitimate interest between the two sides.

The second clue was that Indianapolis Colts’ assistant general manager Ed Dodds removed his name form consideration for the Bears’ general manager vacancy. Dodds was interviewed by the Bears for the vacancy on Monday. Dodds withdrawing his name from consideration created an uproar among Bears fans as skepticism over the team’s search process grew.

Dodds withdrawing his name from the Bears’ general managing opening may have nothing to do with his lack of interest in the job. Instead, it may suggest that the Bears are much closer to hiring their next general manager than what it may seem. It’s possible that Dodds is aware that the Bears are zeroing in on a general manager candidate and that is the reason why he withdrew his name from consideration. The question becomes, how would Dodds know that?

Clues that have emerged this week may suggest that the Chicago Bears are eyeing an Indianapolis Colts’ combo for their head coach and general manager vacancies.

The answer to the question of how Dodds would know that the Bears are closing in on a general manager candidate is because there is another candidate on the Bears’ list that is currently in the Colts’ organization. Colts’ director of college scouting Morocco Brown is also a candidate for the Bears’ general manager position.

Brown’s candidacy for the Bears’ general manager opening has been interesting to follow. Brown was originally scheduled to interview for the position on Tuesday, then the interview was scheduled for today, and earlier this morning, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that the date of the interview has moved once again.

Brown interviewing for the Bears’ general manager vacancy would seem to add some logic to the idea of Eberflus interviewing for a second time next week.

For a team that had the intention of hiring a general manager prior to hiring their head coach, the idea of Eberflus already having a second interview with the team despite no general manager hire was strange. However, with Eberflus and Brown already having worked together with the Colts, the Bears may have some knowledge that the two would be accepting of each other. One thing is clear, next week figures to be an important week for the Chicago Bears in their search for a new head coach and general manager.