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The Chicago Bears are actively looking for their next head coach, and they received good news earlier in the week when the Indianapolis Colts granted the Bears permission to interview offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. Well, it was good news for Chicago. The Colts know they have a great coach in Arians, and in a perfect world they don't want to lose him to any other team (via the Associated Press):
''We do not want to lose Bruce Arians. He's just, we know what he is and we know what he means to this organization and to this football team. So let me just say that first and foremost,'' Colts coach Chuck Pagano said Monday. ''But you guys have seen him work over the last 12 weeks and you know him as a person and as a coach and I would just tell him that you're getting, or if you're interested in a guy you're getting a guy that's a great leader, a great football coach, a great man, and if that happened you'd be getting a great football coach.''
The Bears are set to interview Arians next week, and the San Diego Chargers have also been mentioned as a team pursuing the 60-year-old coach with 20 years of NFL experience. Prior to joining the Colts, Arians spent eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers -- five of those as offensive coordinator.
The Bears have interviewed New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, Atlanta Falcons special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan. They are set to interview Denver Broncos offensive coordinator on Sunday and they also want to speak with Tom Clements of the Green Bay Packers. For a look at the other candidates, be sure to check out Ricky O'Donnell's breakdown at SB Nation and the coaching search stream at Windy City Gridiron.