Chicago Bears Rumors: Jim Harbaugh interested in head coaching job

While the focus this week has been on whether or not Justin Fields is entering the final seven games as the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears, it would also seem to reason that Matt Eberflus may be in his final stretch of games as the team’s head coach.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles has said all the right things publicly when talking about Eberflus and his status as the team’s head coach but it would seem that short of the Bears having a winning record during their next seven games, the team will make a change at head coach after the season.

The early name mentioned in associate with a potential Bears’ head coaching vacancy is University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh has been in the middle of a sign-stealing scandal throughout the past month and it was announced on Thursday that the head coach has accepted the Big 10’s three-game suspension.

There has been speculation that the Big 10, and perhaps, even Harbaugh, expect that this scandal and consequent suspension will be enough to push him back to the NFL.

If that is the case, the Bears will be one of the teams that Harbaugh has circled according to Mike Jones of The Athletic (Subscription Required).

"And two other league sources who regularly talk with teams about hiring and firing decisions said at least two teams — the Chicago Bears and Las Vegas Raiders — are believed to be among those that would appeal to Harbaugh.-The Athletic"

Jim Harbaugh returning to the NFL to coach the Chicago Bears would be such a fascinating dynamic.

The very first dynamic would be the relationship between Harbaugh and the Bears’ president Kevin Warren. The relationship between Warren and Harbaugh appears to be strained stemming from when Warren was the Big 10 commissioner and the former Bears’ quarterback took issue with how he handled the COVID season in 2020.

Then, there is the quarterback situation. Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy is expected to be one of the quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft but there is also the growing chance that the Bears will have the first overall selection and their pick between USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye.

For now, this is all speculation but the rumors seemingly will intensify in January.