Chicago Bears' GM Phil Emery would like next coach to help with college all-star game evaluations

With the Chicago Bears in need of a head coach, general manager Phil Emery wants to move quickly through his list of candidates and make a decision, according to ESPN's Michael C. Wright. Unfortunately for Emery, the NFL playoffs may slow him down.

According to Wright, the Bears are interested in Saints' offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr., Buccaneers' offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan and Cowboys' special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis. Since those teams didn't make the playoffs, Emery has already been able to interview or schedule an interview with each candidate. Falcons' special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong and Broncos' offensive coordinator Mike McCoy are also on Emery's radar, and because their teams have first-round byes, they've been allowed to set up interviews, too.

However, Packers' offensive coordinator Tom Clements, another potential leading candidate for the Bears, has an NFC Wild Card game set for Saturday. With Clements, Emery is at the mercy of the playoffs. If Green Bay loses, Clements will be free to interview, but if the Packers win and keep winning, Emery will have to keep waiting.

With all-star games that showcase the best college talent on the horizon, Emery would like to have his staff completed sooner rather than later:

"I have a target date in my mind. Obviously, the sooner we hire a coach, the more he can get involved right away in terms of completing his staff and assisting and working with us in the all-star game evaluations," Emery said. "So that would be the ideal situation. Will that happen? Hey, we're just gonna have to take each step day by day and work through it, make sure that we've interviewed all the candidates thoroughly and checked their backgrounds thoroughly before we come to a final decision."