3 Chicago Bears coaching candidates connected to Ryan Poles

Eric Bieniemy

Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was once considered to be a top head coaching candidate, however, the Chicago Bears have yet to interview the coordinator for their head coaching vacancy.

Once the Chicago Bears hired Matt Nagy to be their head coach in 2018 and Eric Bieniemy became the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, Bieniemy instantly became a top head coaching candidate in the NFL. Despite receiving interviews in recent years, Bieniemy has yet to be offered a head coaching opportunity in the NFL.

Of the extensive list of candidates that the Bears have compiled for their head coaching vacancy since firing Nagy, Bieniemy was not listed among the candidates. There are two reasons as to why Bieniemy previously was not considered to be a candidate to be the next head coach of the Bears. The first reason is because of the Bears not wanting to go with another assistant under Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid considering how Nagy flamed out during his final season as the team’s head coach. The other reason is due to the early struggles that the Chiefs’ offensive experienced this season.

The Bears hiring Poles marks the first time that a Chiefs’ executive has been hired as a general manager since Nagy became the Bears’ head coach in 2018 and Bieniemy’s candidate profile emerged. It would stand to the reason that Poles could, at the very least, meet with Bienemy as courtesy to the coordinator.