Bears Head Coaching Wish List Includes Arians, Carmichael, McCoy

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 4, 2013 8:00PM

Chicago Bears General Manager Phil Emery’s list of potential candidates to succeed Lovie Smith as head coach is beginning to take shape. Emery, who already interviewed former Bears assistant and current Atlanta special teams coach Keith Armstrong, will travel to Denver Sunday to sit down with Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.

McCoy is attracting attention for the successful offenses he developed under Peyton Manning, Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton and told the Tribune’s Brad Biggs it’s his job to maximize the talent around him. That’s easier to do when you have the greatest quarterback of all time, not so simple when dealing with Tebow or Orton. But McCoy is also drawing interest from Philadelphia, Arizona and Buffalo and Manning is heavily touting McCoy for his work ethic and game planning. The Cardinals and Bills will meet with McCoy Saturday and he’ll meet the Eagles Sunday.

Emery will interview New Orleans offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr., whose stock rose by guiding the Saints offense to an average of 410.9 yards per game (second best in the NFL) with head coach Sean Payton suspended this season in the Bountygate scandal. The Saints allowed Carmichael’s contract to expire after the season ended. Carmichael is also attracting interest from Cleveland

The Bears also are reportedly the first team to request permission to interview Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who guided the Colts to a 9-3 record while head coach Chuck Pagano was battling leukemia and could garner some Coach of the Year consideration. Arians helped develop Manning and Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger early in their careers and helped in the rapid progress of Colts rookie phenom Andrew Luck this season.

Yet another candidate on Emery’s wish list is Green Bay offensive coordinator Tom Clements, who helped turn Aaron Rodgers into an All-Pro and kept the Packers offense rolling in the face of mounting injuries and a lack of a running game in recent years. Emery’s predecessor as GM, Jerry Angelo, asked for permission to interview Carmichael for their offensive coordinator position in 2010, but the Packers blocked the request. Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan rounds out the candidates most speculated to be on Emery’s radar.

Emery said during his New Year’s Day news conference he hoped to have the new head coach in place in time for the college football all-star games so the team could get a jump on scouting draft candidates, calling the search to replace Smith "fast, furious and thorough." His timetable may be affected by the playoffs, if McCoy’s, Arians’ and Clements’ teams have deep playoff runs. Other hot coaching prospects like Oregon’s Chip Kelly may be locked up by another team before Emery requests permission.

Two pie-in-the-sky candidates are current broadcasters Bill Cowher and Jon Gruden. Each has a Super Bowl ring, but sources close to them say they’re happy with their current gigs.

As for Lovie Smith, he’s set to meet with Buffalo.