Harbaugh to Bears Wouldn't Surprise Wanny
The Bears completed Thursday's Day 2 of interviews by talking to general manager candidate Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and their own in-house GM candidate Champ Kelly, a day after talking to GM candidate Glenn Cook and former Eagles coach Doug Pederson.
The interviews will continue but behind the scenes it's not hard to get the feeling the coaching interviews could all be stopped if one person gets in touch with the team and hears the right price from them. That's Jim Harbaugh, of course.
Harbaugh has a Super Bowl appearance, three winning seasons in four with a team he elevated in San Francisco, and now a national semifinal appearance in college football on his side.
This is a belief held by many but now former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt is saying much the same thing.
In a WSCR-AM 670 appearance on the Danny Parkins and Matt Spiegel Show, Wannstedt had interesting things to say Thursday about Harbaugh, his first quarterback when he served as Bears coach in 1993.
Even on a day when Harbaugh seemed to further cement his commitment to Michigan by signing Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston to coach on his staff in Ann Arbor, the possibility of coming to the Bears seemed a possibility.
Responding to a Parkins and Spiegel inquiry about whether the relationship between the Bears and Harbaugh is close enough that it could usurp the whole formal interview process, Wannstedt said without a doubt.
"I could see that, too, absolutely because of the relationship," Wannstedt said. "(CEO) Ted Phillips and Jim know each other and get along with (owner) George (McCaskey)."
One fact makes a sudden hiring possible.
"And Jim does not have an agent, guys, he told me that," Wannstedt told Parkins and Spiegel. "He does not have an agent. He represents himself, and so you're talking to one guy. There's not going to be any leaking. It's coming from Jim. It's really pretty simple."
By this, they mean everyone could wake up one day and out of the clear blue it will be announced Harbaugh is coach, or something close to this.
"I mean, it could be a Zoom call at midnight and talk about it and maybe one personal meeting somewhere or somehow and that could be the deal," Wannstedt said.
A report by Da Bears Blog said Harbaugh had actually contacted the Bears after last season.
"I talk to Jim periodically," Wannstedt told Parkins and Spiegel. "So without getting into details of it, so, yes I believe that and I believe there's a mutual respect between both of them."
Wannstedt called Harbaugh more inviting to the Bears because he is established, and many on the list are not and if Harbaugh pursues it "... he has evaluated the talent on that roster. And you know he played against Justin Fields. If Jim would be interested in that job, he knows as much about Justin Fields as we do, as anybody, from studying him at Michigan and Ohio State. And if Jim wants that job and he's excited about it, he's got a plan and I would trust him. I really would."
WANNY TALKS ABOUT JIM HARBAUGH, BRIAN FLORES AND THE BEARS JOB
One coaching candidate Wannstedt didn't seem too excited about was Brian Flores. Wannstedt has a unique perspective as a former Bears and Dolphins coach, and knows Dolphins owner Stephen Ross as well as GM Chris Grier from when he was with Miami.
A power struggle between Flores and Grier is reported to have occurred, and reports of Flores having problems working with others have been widespread. For instance, he went through four offensive coordinators and three offensive line coaches in his three seasons.
One of those was Chan Gailey, who was on Wannstedt's Miami staff and then returned to Dolphins 20 years later to be on Flores' staff. The others were Chad O'Shea, Eric Studesville and George Godsey.
"And Chan walked on his own," Wannstedt said.
The Bears are slated to interview Flores on Friday and Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett on Saturday. Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is on the slate for Monday.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
