Chicago Bears' likely head-coaching candidate reportedly has disturbing plan for offensive coordinator

During his appearance Tuesday on ESPN 1000‘s "Kap & J.Hood," Breer made sure to say he’s not reporting Vrabel is at the top of the Bears' coaching wish list, but that he should be. However, the Sports Illustrated writer is reporting that Vrabel has two offensive coordinators in mind for his next head-coaching gig: Tommy Rees or Josh McDaniels.

“I think Vrabel would require setting things up a certain way, you know, like what I talked about earlier,” Breer said. “So I think that would probably mean bringing in somebody like Ryan Cowden as his general manager who’s with the Giants now, but was with Mike in Tennessee. And I think it would probably require bringing in and allowing him to fill out his coaching staff…

“So I think (the offensive coordinator) might be Tommy Rees, you know, the old Notre Dame quarterback who he’s with in Cleveland. That’s one name I’ve heard. The other name I’ve heard is Josh McDaniels, where I think it’s potential. There’s potential. I think those two have a good relationship. They’re from the same region of Ohio.”

Rees and McDaniels aren't the best options.

Tommy Rees has no NFL OC experience

Rees was the OC at Notre Dame from 2020-22 before he took the OC job at Alabama in 2023. The Crimson Tide ranked 31st in points per game and 40th in yards per game that season. The Lake Forrest, Illinois, native did so poorly at Alabama that he had to take a job (after Nick Saban retired) as the passing game specialist and tight ends coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2024. Rees didn’t exactly resurrect the Browns passing game this season.

One can’t argue that Rees was a quarterback whisperer during his time at Notre Dame or Alabama.

Are the Bears about a Luke Getsy-Justin Fields 2.0?

Josh McDaniels hasn’t done anything without Tom Brady

McDaniels has an impressive resume as an offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots, but his head-coaching jobs with the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders were a spectacular kind of awful. His offenses were terrible with both teams.

Frankly, it’s unclear how good McDaniels is away from Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. We should have a hunch, though, as his performance as the OC of the St. Louis Rams in 2011 helped then-head coach Steve Spagnuolo get fired.