A look at who Fox figures to target

Bears general manager Ryan Pace made it 5-for-5 Friday when he chose John Fox as the 15th head coach in franchise history. All five of the NFL's head coaches hired since the end of the regular season have defensive backgrounds.

Fox is now working on putting together his staff, starting with defensive and offensive coordinators. So are the other four head coaches who have recently been hired, and as soon as the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos choose their head coaches, there will be two more staffs that must be quickly filled.

There is a long list of candidates, and some of the following have already drawn interest from Fox and the Bears or could do so shortly.

Defensive coordinator:

Dennis Allen, 42. He was Fox's defensive coordinator in Denver in 2011 before he left to become the Oakland Raiders' head coach. In his one year as the Broncos' DC, they were 20th in yards allowed and 24th in points allowed. Allen has a history with Pace. He spent five seasons with the Saints, two as the assistant D-line coach and three as the secondary coach, while Pace was in the personnel department.

After an 0-4 start this season, Allen was fired by the Raiders leaving him with an 8-28 record.

Vic Fangio, 56. Fangio's resume is as strong as any candidate, but when Jim Harbaugh left the San Francisco 49ers, he was passed over in favor of defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. Fangio will meet with the Bears first but then is scheduled to interview with Washington. In the past four years, his 49ers defenses ranked 4th, 3rd, 5th and 5th in total yards allowed and 10th, 5th, 3rd and 2nd in points allowed. He has coached 28 years in the NFL, including 16 as a defensive coordinator.

Mike Nolan, 55. The Falcons' defensive coordinator is still under contract but does not expect to be retained by whomever is brought in to replace fired Mike Smith. The Falcons finished near the bottom of the league in points and yards allowed in each of the past two seasons.

Nolan has spent 17 years as a defensive coordinator with seven different teams. He was the 49ers' head coach from 2005-08 but was fired midway through his fourth season with a combined 18-37 record.

Jim Schwartz, 48. The former Detroit Lions head coach (2009-13) was not retained as the Bills' defensive coordinator when Rex Ryan was recently named the new head coach in Buffalo. But Schwartz's defense led the NFL in sacks this season and was No. 4 in points and yards allowed. The 19-year NFL veteran coach has a degree in economics from Georgetown and is considered one of the league's sharpest minds.

Mike Smith, 55, was fired after seven seasons as head coach of the Falcons, but he will be in demand as a D-coordinator around the league. Despite going a combined 10-22 the past two seasons, Smith left the Falcons with a 66-46 record and made the playoffs four times, although he was just 1-4 in the postseason. Smith received a standing ovation from his Falcons players when he met with them on Black Monday to inform them of his fate.

He has already been linked to new Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio because Smith coordinated Del Rio's defense in Jacksonville with the Jaguars from 2003-07.

Offensive coordinators:

Adam Gase, 36. The Broncos' offensive coordinator was by the far the hottest young candidate in the NFL. He interviewed for the Bears' head-coaching job on Jan. 3. He has also interviewed in-house with the Broncos, but Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak is considered the favorite for that job. If Gase doesn't get the Broncos or Falcons HC jobs, he'll have his pick of any number of OC positions. Two other Falcons HC candidates - Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and Seahawks defensive coordinator - are believed to want Gase as their OC if they get the job.

Greg Knapp, 51. Knapp has 20 years in the league, the previous two as the Broncos' quarterbacks coach, so he has a connection with Fox. Knapp has also spent 10 years as an offensive coordinator with the Raiders (2012 and 2007-08), Seahawks (2009), Falcons (2004-06) and 49ers (2001-03). While he was the Atlanta Falcons' OC from 2004-06, they led the league in rushing all three seasons, although 2,538 of those yards came from quarterback Michael Vick, which somewhat skews the numbers.

Mike Mularkey, 53. The Titans denied a request for their tight ends coach to interview with the Bears.

Kyle Shanahan, 35. He resigned as the Browns' offensive coordinator, allegedly over differences of opinion on rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel. Shanahan recently declined an opportunity to interview with the 49ers for their OC position.

Despite his youth, Shanahan already has seven years of coaching experience in the league and has been preparing for a coaching career for a long time.

"I studied every potential X's and O's play and issue possible," Shanahan told the Denver Post after his first season in the NFL. "I spent my whole life working on that. My goal was that any question a player could have about anything on the field, I'd be able to answer it. (But) there's more to it. I'm learning that now. You have to communicate with your guys. The guys have to feel comfortable with you. They have to trust you, or they'll tune you out."

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