Day 7 of the Chicago Bears offseason. I’d rather be preparing for a NFC Championship Game battle against the Seattle Seahawks. Instead, I’ll spend a chunk of my day staring out the window thinking about what could have been. Sigh.
The Green Bay Packers hired a new defensive coordinator. And while we’ll probably take a deeper dive into this hire later this week, I wanted to get some initial thoughts regarding Jonathan Gannon’s hire on the board right now while I had a moment:A big hire for the Packers, who lost Jeff Hafley to Miami. Jonathan Gannon had options and chose to team up with Matt LaFleur in Green Bay. t.co/e59rXWoIos pic.twitter.com/R2H1zcVPbl
A source also said Gannon was drawing interest from both Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh for their respective defensive coordinator openings with the Los Angeles Chargers and New York Giants, and if the Packers had waited any longer, they might have lost out on Gannon.
However, hiring Gannon now prevents the Packers from interviewing Denver Broncos assistant head coach/defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard for the job.
While there was mutual interest between LaFleur and Leonhard, the Wisconsin native and former Badgers player and coach, the Packers could not interview him because the Broncos are playing in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.
If that is the case, then I find myself genuinely surprised because that isn’t the type of decision-making process I am used to watching the Packers make. I thought Green Bay could/would do better. I’m relieved they didn’t. Now, I’m wondering if they wouldn’t have hired Jim Leonhard anyway because LaFleur knew that he would always be one bad game away from fans calling for his dismissal to install Leonhard as the new head coach. Or maybe that’s just me thinking out loud. But, hey, at least they didn’t hire Al Harris away! Bears QB Caleb Williams vs. Jonathan Gannon’s defense as a rookie in 2024: 22/41 (53.7%), 217 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 5.3 yards/attempt, 68.9 passer rating. For what it’s worth: Chicago would dump Shane Waldron as its OC one week later. Williams would go on to post this stat line in his remaining games: 173/268 (64.6%), 1,756 yards, 11 TD, 1 INT, 6.6 yards/attempt, 95.3 passer rating. Because I have QB1’s Pro Football Reference page open, I might as well share his numbers before and after the Waldron firing since it is on my mind: 9 games before the firing: 178/294 (60.5%), 1,785 yards, 9 TD, 5 INT, 6.1 yards/attempt, 81.0 passer rating. That comes out to a 17-game pace of 3,372 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. 25 games since: 503/836 (60.2%), 5,698 yards, 38 TD, 8 INT, 6.8 yards/attempt, 91.8 passer rating. That comes out to a 17-game pace of 3,875 pass yards, 26 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. Those stats above do a lot to show how important hiring the right coach is for a quarterback’s development. But everything that happened in the past has led us to where we are today. And while I’d rather be using this set of BN Bears Bullets to hype up for the NFC title game, I feel better about this team now than I did when the 2024-25 season ended. Don’t you? Bears QB Caleb Williams with then-offensive coordinator Shane Waldron in 2024. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images In other NFL coaching news, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio warns not to assume that an Aaron Rodgers-Mike McCarthy reunion is in the cards just because the Pittsburgh Steelers hired McCarthy as their new head coach. It will be interesting to see what Pittsburgh does from afar. McCarthy has been fortunate enough to work with some of the most productive QBs of this era with Rodgers in Green Bay and Dak Prescott with the Dallas Cowboys. If not Rodgers, will McCarthy opt for a veteran quarterback? A bridge starter? Or will he try to develop a young quarterback like Will Howard or someone who can be snagged in the upcoming NFL Draft. The Mike McCarthy hire has been polarizing, to say the least:"I really like this hire … everywhere he's been he's uplifted the offense."@CowherCBS on the Steelers hiring Mike McCarthy as next head coach. pic.twitter.com/21OX8wZ3wm
— NFL on CBS ? (@NFLonCBS) January 25, 2026Brilliant, grounded and realistic analysis on Steelers’ hiring of Mike MidCarthy by the must-read @NFL_DougFarrar t.co/fPMKO7yRHo
— Neal Coolong (@NealCoolong) January 25, 2026 Once again, I am glad the Bears aren’t trying to hire a head coach in this cycle. I am, once again, asking for Bears fans to submit their questions for a mailbag segment of The Bleacher Nation Bears podcast:HELLO, BEARS FANS!We're taking your burning questions about #DaBears for a mailbag segment in an upcoming episode of The Bleacher Nation Bears podcast. Let's hear what ya got and we'll have answers on our next episode.?⬇️ pic.twitter.com/JiNPFFGVmK
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) January 23, 2026 Don’t say I didn’t warn ya: We might not get to all of the questions in this episode. But we also might. Who knows how the cookie crumbles. However, I’ll do my best to get to all of them as soon as possible. If all else fails, it can carry over onto the next episode. I am envisioning an offseason in which there is a full segment dedicated to your questions. So, please, keep ’em coming!REACH OUT TO BN BEARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook | Twitter | Blue Sky
Jason Lieser (Sun-Times) writes about what the Bears can learn from the final four teams in the hunt to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. After Bo Nix’s injury last week, the Denver Broncos are starting backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham in today’s AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots. Stidham will be backed up by Sam Ehlinger. Meanwhile, the other QB2s involved in Sunday’s action include Josh Dobbs (Patriots), Drew Lock, (Seahawks), and Jimmy Garoppolo (Rams).MORE BEARS FROM BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad-Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
Cardiac Bulls Survive Celtics on Derrick Rose Night, 114-111 — January 24, 2026 t.co/V31LLo3xzb
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) January 25, 2026Worried About the Lack of Top-100 Cubs Prospects? Kudos for Kimbrel, and Other Cubs Bullets t.co/1NnXWJ4pio
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 25, 2026Knight’s Value, Cherishing the Past, Plenty of Prospect Highlights, and Other Blackhawks Bullets #blackhawks t.co/91tA3jlXht
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 25, 2026PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE BN BEARS PODCAST: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
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