Report: Bears continue to negotiate with Fox

Update: Fox Sports reporter Jay Glazer reports that John Fox and the Bears continue to negotiate a deal for him to become the next head coach of the Bears.

Just spoke to John Fox, still trying to hammer out an agreement with Bears. Incredibly excited to get this donemdash; Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) January 16, 2015

Ryan Pace was adamant on Jan. 9, the day after he was hired as the Bears' GM, that the most important decision he would make was choosing the team's next head coach.

#8220;The first order of business is to hire the right head coach to lead us to championships,#8221; the 37-year-old Pace said. #8220;Right now, that is the most critical thing I am doing.#8221;

And clearly the NFL's youngest general manager is not rushing to judgment. Bears nation waited Thursday for word that John Fox would become the 15th head coach in franchise history.

But they waited in vain as there was no announcement on Day 18 of the search for Marc Trestman's replacement, though there was rampant speculation.

Fox's Broncos were defeated in a divisional-round playoff game Sunday, and the next day he and Denver GM John Elway agreed to part #8212; supposedly amicably. Two days later, Fox was at Halas Hall interviewing for the Bears' head-coaching spot, but he flew back to Colorado that night. Fox has been the overwhelming favorite among the six candidates who have interviewed, and he remains the front-runner.

A Chicago Tribune report Thursday night said Pace #8220;was believed to be in Denver.#8221; That could be a continuation of their first sit-down at Halas Hall #8212; just Pace going the extra mile to be thorough in the hiring that will define his stewardship of the Bears' football operation for years.

Or it could be that Pace is waiting to conduct a second interview with Dan Quinn, the Seattle Seahawks' defensive coordinator. Quinn's initial talk with the Bears on Jan. 2 involved only team chairman George McCaskey, team president and CEO Ted Phillips and consultant Ernie Accorsi.

Quinn won't be available to talk again until after the Seahawks NFC title game Sunday, and he cannot be hired until Seattle's season is completed, which could be after the Feb. 1 Super Bowl. Quinn is also considered one of the favorites for the Atlanta Falcons' vacant head-coaching position.

Fox, who will be 60 next month, has 13 years of experience as a head coach in the NFL #8212; the past four with the Broncos and the nine before that with the Carolina Panthers.

The enthusiastic Fox would be a change from the low-key, bookish Trestman, who was fired after two seasons with a 13-19 record.

According to a Panthers source, #8220;Fox is not a laid-back guy. He's a rah-rah type guy. He's a players' coach, but he can be tough and brutally honest.#8221;

In 13 years as a head coach, Fox's teams are a combined 119-89 and 8-7 in the postseason.

If he was hired, Fox would focus most of his attention on the defense, but his offensive philosophy seems well-suited to the Bears' personnel.

#8220;He'll stay out of the way of the offensive coordinator,#8221; according to an NFL source. #8220;The thing he wants is a strong running game, and the ability to take shots down the field.#8221;

Fox went 46-18 in Denver and the Broncos made the playoffs as the AFC West champion each season, but they couldn't win the Super Bowl that Elway required. Fox got the Broncos into Super Bowl 48 after the 2013 season, but they lost to the Seattle Seahawks 43-8.

In two other seasons, including the current one, the Broncos lost their first playoff game. So, despite an NFL-best 38-10 record over the previous three regular seasons, Fox and Elway parted ways.

Fox's Carolina teams were a combined 73-71 from 2002-2010 and went to the playoffs three times but never in consecutive years. The 2003 Panthers made it to Super Bowl 38 but lost to the New England Patriots 32-29 just two years after Fox took over a team that went 1-15 in 2001.

Wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad played on that Super Bowl team and for three years under Fox from 2002-04. Thursday morning on the Carmen Jurko Show on ESPN AM-1000, Muhammad said the coach was adept at handling egos and different personalities.

#8220;He does a good job of that,#8221; said Muhammad, who played for the Bears from 2005-07. #8220;He'll drink 20 cups of coffee and then come down in the locker room at 8 a.m. and talk to the guys. He's a politician in the locker room. He does a good job of keeping the natives settled.

#8220;He knows you don't treat a future Hall of Famer the same as a guy running down on special teams.#8221;

Muhammad said Fox demonstrated his proficiency in diplomacy during the 2003 Super Bowl run after a miscommunication between the wide receiver and quarterback Jake Delhomme resulted in an interception that cost the Panthers a game.

#8220;He said he'd never call a guy out (in public), but he made some comments that it was my fault,#8221; Muhammad recalled. #8220;I was bitter, but we all sat down the next week and ironed it out, and we went on a run and got to the Super Bowl.#8221;

Fox is known to have a preference for stout defense and a strong run game.

Prior to Fox's last season in Carolina, a 2-14 debacle in a rebuilding year, the Panthers' defense finished in the top 12 four of six seasons in points allowed.

Under Fox, the Broncos' defense, starting in 2011, finished 20th, 2nd, 19th and 3rd in total yards allowed. The Broncos' run game was No. 1 in yards and No. 6 in average gain per attempt in 2011 before quarterback Peyton Manning arrived. Even with an offense that revolved around the future Hall of Fame quarterback, the Broncos were 16th, 15th and 15th in rushing yards from 2012-14.

Fox's background is as a defensive coach, and he was the New York Giants' defensive coordinator for five years before he was hired by the Panthers. He has spent the previous 26 years in the NFL.

In 13 years as a head coach, Fox's teams have finished in the top 10 in total yards allowed seven times.

#8226; Follow Bob's Bears and NFL reports on Twitter@BobLeGere.