Chicago Bears request Mike McCarthy interview for head coach vacancy

On Monday morning, or “Black Monday” as it is sometimes referred to in the NFL following the conclusion of the regular season, fans of the Dallas Cowboys woke up to the least possible surprising news when it came to the status of head coach Mike McCarthy. After completing a 2024 season that was doomed from the start thanks to the Cowboys front office being “slower” to the draw than other contending teams around the league, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Dallas will keep this approach when deciding to extend McCarthy’s contract or not.

McCarthy’s contract in Dallas will officially expire next week on Tuesday, January 14th, but owner/GM Jerry Jones has reportedly already made his decision even prior to the team’s season-ending loss against the Commanders. McCarthy cannot interview for any other head coach openings without permission from the Cowboys until then, something that the Chicago Bears are reportedly eager to do.

Chicago Bears have sought permission to interview Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and are awaiting a response from Dallas, sources tell me and @toddarcher.

If the Cowboys don’t allow permission this week, the Bears could interview McCarthy after his exclusive negotiating window… pic.twitter.com/zoS7vHO5mF

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 6, 2025

The Bears were the first opening available this year after former Cowboys assistant Matt Eberflus was fired mid-season after a Thanksgiving loss in Detroit to the Lions. The firing happened at the midpoint of an ongoing five-game losing streak that stretched for ten games, a miserable stretch for a Bears team sent into freefall after a last-second Hail Mary loss at the Commanders in Week 8. Ending the season with their first win against the Packers in 12 tries and first win at Lambeau Field since beating McCarthy’s Packers in 2015, the Bears at least found a slight positive to close out rookie first overall pick Caleb William’s debut season.

Neither the Packers, or certainly the Bears, were on the stratospheric level of their other division rivals in the Lions or Vikings this season though, and with all three but the Bears going to the playoffs, Chicago has a lot of work ahead to compete.

The Bears pondering bringing McCarthy back to the NFC North is certainly interesting. His extensive coaching experience within the division along with the leadership and culture building qualities are positives. What the Cowboys themselves may find the most interesting though is a team with a talented young quarterback looking to hire McCarthy.

The Bears have this advantage thanks to Williams over other current openings like the Saints or Jets, and to some degree the Jaguars considering Trevon Lawrence’s contract compared to Williams’. Getting a top play-caller for Williams should be of utmost priority, and McCarthy making their shortlist just hours after both team’s seasons ended is an endorsement the Cowboys can use to justify McCarthy’s handling of the offense in his second year as play-caller.

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

The dynamics of how a potential Mike McCarthy contract extension in Dallas will be received relies heavily on what other teams acting more quickly do with their openings and interview decisions. The Bears have hardly been a model of success anytime recently, but they now represent the first and – at the time of this writing – only team from the outside interested in drawing Mike McCarthy away from the Cowboys.

According to NFL.com, the Bears have also interviewed Brian Flores, Aaron Glenn, Ben Johnson, Mike Kafka, Todd Monken, Drew Petzing, Artur Smith, and Anthony Weaver for their head coaching job. The first three names on this list all come from within the current NFC North, as Glenn and Johnson are defensive/offensive coordinators for the Lions respectively. Brian Flores is back in the head coaching candidate game after his second year as DC for the Vikings. The Bears are putting some value on getting an outside perspective on how their own team is perceived by their closest rivals, and adding McCarthy to this list carries some of that same weight.

Glenn, Flores, and Weaver are the only three defensive coaches the Bears have talked to so far, meaning the rest of the list is also stacked against McCarthy when it comes to offensive minds in consideration.

McCarthy is 19-7 against the Bears in his head coaching career, with just one of these games being with the Cowboys when Dallas beat Chicago 49-29 at home in Week 8 of 2022.