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CHICAGO (CBS) — A little over two weeks after firing Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy, the Chicago Bears reportedly are finalizing a deal to hire Kansas City Chiefs’ executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles as their new general manager.
The expected signing of Poles was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Poles is meeting with the Bears for the second time on Tuesday about their GM opening, and Bears chairman George McCaskey reportedly picked up Poles at O’Hare International Airport. A deal reportedly could be announced soon.
Poles, 36, has served in several scouting and and player personnel roles with the Chiefs since 2009, including as a scout, director of college scouting, and executive director of player personnel.
Poles was signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2008, but did not play in the NFL before turning to scouting with the Chiefs in 2009.
Since he became the Chiefs’ director of college scouting in 2016, Kansas City has drafted plenty of elite talent, including nose tackle Dontari Poe, offensive tackle Eric Fisher, tight end Travis Kelce, cornerback Marcus Peters, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, defensive lineman Chris Jones, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
If he is hired, Poles’ first task will be finding a new head coach to replace Matt Nagy.
The Bears already have interviewed several head coaching candidates, including including Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, former Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, and Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
The Bears reportedly are expected to bring in three of those candidates for second interviews: Eberflus, Caldwell, and Quinn.
Poles reportedly demanded control over the interview process for hiring the new head coach, and will exclusively conduct the second interviews of Eberflus, Caldwell, and Quinn.
These interviews will be done exclusively by him. https://t.co/QosRiJBIbC
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 25, 2022
After two weeks of primary interviews, this signals that the team is starting their final interviews for candidates and a decision is likely coming within the next week. It doesn’t rule out second interviews for other candidates and frankly, Bears fans would love to see the team bring back Leftwich and/or Daboll for another interview, but as it stands right now that list is at three.
Source: ChicagoCBS
