Bears Reportedly Going All Out for Interview With Longtime NFL Head Coach

General Manager Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren both promised that the Chicago Bears would cast a wide net for the head coaching search. They have stayed true to that promise as the Bears have completed nine interviews and have requested another eight. Despite requesting 17 interviews to this point, the Bears' interest in former Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy remains high.

Chicago requested to interview McCarthy last week, but for unknown reasons, the Cowboys denied that request. So, it was no surprise when McCarthy and the Cowboys parted ways Monday that the Bears immediately requested an interview with him. That said, it seems the Bears are pulling out all the stops to impress McCarthy.

According to Mark "Silvy" Silverman of ESPN 1000's Waddle and Silvy, the Bears are set to take McCarthy out to dinner after his in-person interview, transcribed by Bears Wire Brendan Sugrue.

Bears News: Bears plan to wine and dine Mike McCarthy

This report indicates just how strong of a candidate the Bear's front office feels McCarthy is. Currently, the Bears have only had one other in-person interview, and that was with former Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera.

Although some candidates like Ben Johnson aren't available for in-person interviews yet, others are. Most notably, Mike Vrabel could have been interviewed in person before being hired by the New England Patriots, but the Bears chose to do the interview virtually instead.

The team's willingness to pull out all the stops for McCarthy early may show that they aren't confident that they will be able to hire Ben Johnson as the next head coach. While that's not what many Bears fans want to hear, it may be the reality of the situation.

Nevertheless, the Bears may interview McCarthy and find he's not what they are looking for. Either way, keeping an eye on the Bears and McCarthy's meetings is important.

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