This coming offseason, the Chicago Bears have the important decision of who they will bring in to be the head coach of the organization for the second season of 2024 first overall pick Caleb Williams. And on Wednesday, FS1 personalities Colin Cowherd and Danny Parkins shared two very different suggestions for what type of candidate they would like to see get the job.
Cowherd and Parkins discussed the topic on Wednesday’s edition of The Herd, a topic Cowherd brought up by asking what Parkins thought of his preferred candidate for the job, former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.
“I’ve been talking about this now for the last couple of weeks,” said Cowherd on the Bears head coaching vacancy. “It was my second story today. I heard Joe Brady’s name come up. The analogy I used Danny was everybody that works to build a bridge is a tradesman. But if you are going to be the leader of the project, you have to be an engineer or an architect. This needs an engineer or an architect, not just a tradesman. I don’t want any coordinators getting the Bears job. This is a big big project. Is Vrabel the name you would suggest? Where are you on him? Because he is the biggest name out there.”
Parkins, who of course joined FS1 back in August after 7 1/2 years at 670 The Score in Chicago, couldn’t have disagreed more with Cowherd about what kind of coaching candidate he wants coaching the Bears, detailing how he believes Vrabel is “overrated” as a head coach due to his perceived ability to be a “leader of men”.
“We are not aligned on this one Colin,” said Parkins. And I love the analogy as alway. It’s excellent work. But I’ll take the tradesman. I want the offensive guy. Mike Vrabel should coach Cincinnati where they have Joe Burrow and the offense is established. He should coach Dallas where they have Dak Prescott and the offense is established. Go coach Ohio State if you want.
“I feel like Mike Vrabel, we’ve overrated him because time away has helped him age pretty well. People are like ‘Oh my god, they won 12 games’. That team had Derrick Henry. That team had A.J. Brown. Arthur Smith was the offensive coordinator. We’ve seen that he can raise the floor of a quarterback, he’s doing it with Russell Wilson. He did it with Ryan Tannehill that last year (in Tennessee).
“There were power struggles in Tennessee. He went 6-18 in his last 24 games. He wanted all the power. He couldn’t replace Arthur Smith. They had a seven game losing streak to finish a season. Caleb Williams is at a fork in the road moment in his career. I want to try and find the coach that can win and develop and maximize any quarterback. Go find you Kevin O’Connell. Go find your Matt LaFleur, your Sean McVay, your Kyle Shanahan. If you can’t get those guys in a trade, go try and find the next one because the Bears need offensive help. Yeah, leadership is a problem. I’m not going to dispute it. But I think this leader of men stuff is grossly overrated. All football coaches are supposed to be leaders of men.”
Parkins further made his point in a post on social media, claiming that the likes of Kevin O’Connell, Matt LaFleur, Sean McVay, and Kyle Shanahan lead just like Vrabel does, but also bring more to the table.
“For every Dan Campbell or Mike Tomlin there are dozens of guys who flame out when the act wears thin or talent dries up,” wrtoe Parkins. Go find a Kevin O’Connell or Matt LaFleur or Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay type who can maximize whatever QB you have. They lead. And good QBs lead too.”
For every Dan Campbell or Mike Tomlin there are dozens of guys who flame out when the act wears thin or the talent dries up.
Go find a Kevin O’Connell or Matt LaFleur or Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay type who can maximize whatever QB you have.
They lead. And good QBs lead too.
— Danny Parkins (@DannyParkins) December 19, 2024
The problem for the Bears organization is that they historically failed with both strategies presented by Parkins and Cowherd. Whether it be the offensive mind in Matt Nagy or the “leader of men” with an established track record as a head coach like John Fox, the Bears have simply gotten it wrong at every turn when it comes to head coaching searches for over a decade.
Perhaps that is more of an indictment of the Bears ownership group in charge. But eithe way, the Bears certainly need to get it right this time around for the sake of Caleb Williams’ future in the NFL. Whether it be with Cowherd’s or Parkins’ strategy.
