Bears Interviewing Prominent College Football Head Coach For Job
01/08/2025 05:47 PM
The Chicago Bears are getting set to interview a college football head coach for their vacant head coaching job. But not the one you might think.
While Bill Belichick is an eight-time Super Bowl champion and widely believed to still want to coach in the NFL so he can surpass the late-great Don Shula's all-time wins record, that doesn't seem to be in the cards. Not for 2025 anyway.
But there are a number of coaches in the college ranks who many believe have the personality and reputation for building a culture that can translate to the NFL. The one that the Bears have their eyes on is Iowa State's Matt Campbell.
According to Bears insider Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Campbell is expected to interview for the Bears job in the coming days.
"The wide net the Chicago Bears are casting in search of the 19th coach in team history includes at least one college coach," Biggs wrote on Wednesday. "The team is expected to meet with Iowa State's Matt Campbell, according to multiple sources."
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell is expected to interview for #Bears job.https://t.co/AWRDZYB4gt
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) January 8, 2025
Matt Campbell is coming off his ninth season with the Cyclones and his 14th season as a college football head coach. He is 64-51 at Iowa State and 99-66 overall with five bowl wins and a top 10 finish from the 2020 season.
Most importantly, Campbell has completely changed the culture at Iowa State. He already has the highest winning percentage of any Iowa State head coach in over a century and is the school's all-time leader in wins.
That said, Campbell has no NFL ties whatsoever. He went straight out of playing defensive line at the University of Mount Union in 2002 to coaching at Bowling Green in 2003 and has stayed in college for the past 20-plus years.
In fact, Campbell has consistently turned down NFL job offers at every turn. Back in 2018 the New York Jets attempted to court Campbell, but he wouldn't even do an interview with them.
Perhaps Campbell will be more inclined to take an offer now that he's in his mid-40s, potentially reached his ceiling at a place like Iowa State and has the ability to work somewhere where the playing field is a little more even.
Do you think Campbell should accept the interview? Is he a good candidate for the job?
Related: Jets Are Reportedly Looking Into Major College Head Coach
