Bears candidate tracker: Here are the GM, head coaching candidates requested for interviews

The Bears began requesting interviews for their open general manager and head coach positions within hours Monday of firing Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy.

The process will be "thorough, diligent and exhaustive," Bears chairman George McCaskey said.

He outlined a five-person panel which will interview candidates for both positions. That panel includes team president and CEO Ted Phillips, former NFL executive Bill Polian, Bears director of player engagement LaMar "Soup" Campbell and Bears senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Tanesha Wade.

McCaskey said hiring a GM before a coach is preferred, but not a requirement.

Teams must ask permission to interview candidates who work for other teams.

Here's what's known so far about candidates the Bears have requested, according to various reports:

General manager

The Bears have asked to interview two members of the Indianapolis Colts' front office. That includes director of college scouting Morocco Brown, according to the NFL Network. From 2001 to 2007, he was the Bears' assistant director of pro personnel.

They have also requested an interview with Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds. He has been with the Colts since 2017 as GM Chris Ballard's right-hand man. Prior to the Colts, he worked for the Seattle Seahawks from 2007 to 2016. He helped build the Seahawks into a perennial contender and has helped engineer a turnaround in Indianapolis in recent years.

The Bears asked to interview two members of the Cleveland Browns front office, according to Sports Illustrated. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is a Princeton grad who previously worked on Wall Street, and who took his first NFL job in 2013 with the 49ers. He became the director of football research and development in San Francisco before becoming the vice president of football operations in Cleveland in 2020.

Glenn Cook is the vice president of player personnel in Cleveland. He has worked for the Browns since 2016 and took on his current role in 2020. He previously worked for the Green Bay Packers. Cook played college football at Miami from 2004 to 2008 and was a 46th-round draft pick by the Cubs in 2009. He briefly played baseball in the minors.

The Bears requested to interview New Orleans assistant general manager Jeff Ireland, per ESPN. Ireland, 51, has a background as a scout and was Miami's general manager from 2008 to 2013. His Dolphins teams were 46-50 with one playoff appearance. Ireland worked in 2014 as a consultant with the Seahawks before taking his current job. He was once a ball boy for the Bears.

The Bears also requested to interview San Francisco director of player personnel Ran Carthon, according to Sports Illustrated. Carthon, 40, has been in his current position since 2017. He previously was as a scout for the Falcons and director of player personnel for the Rams. He played in the NFL for parts of three seasons from 2004 to 2006.

A request went out for Buffalo Bills assistant general manager Joe Schoen, per ESPN. He has been in Buffalo since 2017. He previously worked for Bills GM Brandon Beane in Carolina for seven years, originally starting as a college intern. Schoen also spent nine years with the Miami Dolphins, including as player personnel director.

Head coach

The Bears requested an interview with Leslie Frazier, Buffalo's defensive coordinator, according to ESPN. Frazier, 62, was a cornerback on the Bears' Super Bowl 20 team in 1985 and played for the team for six seasons.

He served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2010 to 2013, amassing a 21-32-1 regular season record with one playoff appearance. Since then he has coached for the Bucs, Ravens and Bills.

The Bears also went to the Bills with a request to interview offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, per ESPN. Daboll, 46, has never been a head coach but has won six championships as an assistant - five Super Bowls with the Patriots and a national championship with Alabama.

He has been the Bills' offensive coordinator since 2018 and has been instrumental in bringing quarterback Josh Allen along from his rookie season until now.

The Bears requested both Tampa Bay coordinators, per ESPN. Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, 41, is a former first-round draft pick who started 50 games as a quarterback in the NFL. He has coached under Bucs head coach Bruce Arians since 2017 in Arizona and Tampa Bay. Leftwich has been the Bucs' offensive coordinator since 2019, including during last year's Super Bowl run.

Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, 58, was 24-40 as head coach of the New York Jets from 2015 to 2018. A 10-6 finish in 2015 was the Jets' last winning season. Bowles joined Arians' staff in 2019 in Tampa Bay. The Bucs had one of the NFL's best defenses in 2020 when they won Super Bowl 55.

The Bears asked to talk with Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, per the NFL Network. Quinn, 51, was 43-42 as head coach of Atlanta from 2015 to 2020. In Super Bowl 51, his team led 28-3 before collapsing against the Patriots. The Cowboys have had one of the NFL's best defensive resurgences this season after ranking among the worst in 2020. Quinn was the defensive coordinator in Seattle when the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl in 2013 and 2014.

Brian Flores also will interview with the Bears, per the NFL Network. Miami fired Flores Monday. Flores, 40, is another longtime Patriots assistant. He won four Super Bowls in various roles in New England. As a head coach, he went 24-25 the past three seasons in Miami. The Dolphins had winning records the past two seasons.

Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, 51, has been requested, per the NFL Network. He has been defensive coordinator in Indianapolis since 2018. He worked for the Cowboys from 2009 to 2017 as linebackers coach.

The Bears on Wednesday will interview former Philadelphia Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson, according to the NFL Network. He took the 2021 season off after being fired by the Eagles last year. He was 42-37-1 for the Eagles from 2016 to 2020, with three playoff appearances and a Super Bowl 52 championship.