Caleb Williams praises Kliff Kingsbury, says Bears’ next coach must challenge team

The Chicago Bears figure to kick their coaching search into another gear after their season finale at Green Bay on Sunday.

One potential candidate has worked with the quarterback the Bears drafted with the No. 1 pick last spring. Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was a senior offensive analyst at Southern California in 2023, when Caleb Williams was in his second and final season with the Trojans after spending a year at Oklahoma.

“I know what type of guy he is,” Williams said Wednesday. “I know he loves football. I know he wants to win. He’s a competitor. And so in many different aspects that I was just speaking of, I’ve been around him. So I would say that being around him, knowing him, asking him questions and things like that, I think obviously if he was here I’d probably have more to say. But I think he fits a bunch of those qualities that I said.”

What are those qualities?

“A coach that challenges myself, whether it’s an offensive coordinator or head coach, and also challenges us as players — whether it’s on the field or character, doesn’t matter. Just a coach that challenges us,” Williams said. “A man of his word. A discipline coach, meaning whatever his rules are or whatever he’s gonna bring rule-wise, how he’s going to control the team and manage and control the team, things like that.”

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The Bears interviewed Kingsbury for their offensive coordinator job last year. They passed on him in favor of Shane Waldron, who lasted just nine games before being fired on Nov. 12. Less than three weeks later, the day after an excruciating loss at Detroit on Thanksgiving, Chicago fired a head coach during a season for the first time in franchise history when it let Matt Eberflus go.

Kingsbury is a former quarterback with head coaching experience. He led Arizona to a 28-37-1 record from 2019-2022 with one winning season.

In Washington, he’s overseeing an offense that ranks among the league’s best with another rookie quarterback in No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels. The Commanders are fourth in the NFL in yards per game and fifth in scoring.

Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will be one of the top candidates on the job market. And former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is reportedly interested in returning to the sideline after a one-year absence.

The Bears (4-12) are arguably the NFL’s biggest disappointment. They came into the season with playoff hopes, only to unravel after a 4-2 start.

Chicago has lost 10 in a row for the second time in general manager Ryan Poles’ three seasons. The Bears dropped the final 10 games while tanking in 2022 as part of a franchise-worst 14-game skid that stretched into last year. They’ve never lost more than 10 straight in one season.

Team president Kevin Warren has said Poles will remain on the job and serve as the “point person” in the search. He has also said Poles would have “final say” if the two have differing opinions on who should be hired.

Williams said he’s willing to give his input in the hiring process if management asks. If not, he insisted that’s fine, too.

“I know that I’m a rookie and a young guy, so if they make decisions without me, that’s their job to make decisions and make those types of decisions,” Williams said. “If they make a decision like that, just hope and believe and faith that those guys upstairs, they make the right decisions. And so that’s that. If I’m a part of it, then great.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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