Bears Reportedly Have Surprising Preference for Next Head Coach

For the first time in franchise history, the Chicago Bears fired a head coach in-season. Matt Eberflus was relieved of his duties after a six-game losing streak, in which the Bears kept finding different ways to be unprepared and lose matchups.

Since Eberflus's firing, fans and media have already started talking about who the Bears next head coach could be. Names that have been floating out there include: current lions OC Ben Johnson, current Bills OC Joe Brady, current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, Mike Vrabel, and Bears interim HC Thomas Brown just to name a few.

Despite the diverse list of candidates, the Bears are reportedly looking for one specific quality. Sources told CBS Sports the Bears are looking for "a leader of men" and their background in offense or defense doesn't matter.

Bears News: The Bears are looking for a "Leader of Men" to be their next head coach

Looking for this quality in a head coach is imperative for the Bears. Eberflus proved to be the opposite of that during his tenure with the Bears -- but he was branded as a "leader of men" as well when first hired, so it's a surprise to see Chicago going back to that criteria when it previously failed.

Not only did it seem like Eberflus wanted to be the players friends more then their coach, but he had a lack of self accountability. From the sounds of things, Eberflus's lack of self accountability is what led to him losing the locker room after the Washington Commanders loss.

This makes sense, since many of the Bears players took responsibility for their parts in the Bears losses. Having a coach that doesn't do the same shows a lack of respect to what the players are doing week in and week out.

On the other hand, Eberflus's desire to have good relationships with his players isn't necessarily a bad thing, Actually, in the modern world coaches having strong relationships with their players is good. However, if a strong relationship means weaker coaching then the good relationship might not be worth it.

No one is accusing Eberflus of that, but who knows that may be what was happening.

Going forward, the Bears may take a different approach to what "leader of men" means in the post-Eberflus era. While no one is certain if first-time coaches like Ben Johnson or Joe Brady can be leaders of men, the Bears could take a chance on them given their offensive prowess. Or, they could play it safe and hire a proven leader like Vrabel or Freeman to lead them for years to come.

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