List of Chicago Bears head coaches



This is a complete list of Chicago Bears head coaches. There have been 17 head coaches for the Chicago Bears, including coaches for the Decatur Staleys (1919–1920) and Chicago Staleys (1921). The Bears franchise was founded as the Decatur Staleys, a charter member of the American Professional Football Association. The team moved to Chicago in 1921, and changed its name to the Bears in 1922, the same year the American Professional Football Association (APFA) changed its name to the National Football League (NFL).

The Chicago Bears have played more than 1,000 games. Of those games, five different coaches have won NFL championships with the team: George Halas in, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1946 and 1963; Ralph Jones in 1932; Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos in 1943; and Mike Ditka in 1985. George Halas is the only coach to have more than one tenure and is the all-time leader in games coached and games won, while Ralph Jones leads all coaches in winning percentage with .706. Abe Gibron is statistically the worst coach of the Bears in terms of winning percentage, with a .268 average.

Of the 18 Bears coaches, three have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: George Halas, Paddy Driscoll, and Mike Ditka. Several former players have been head coach for the Bears, including George Halas, Hunk Anderson, Luke Johnsos, Paddy Driscoll, Jim Dooley, Abe Gibron and Mike Ditka.

After Ditka was fired following the 1992 season, the Bears went through six head coaches starting with Dave Wannstedt, who coached until 1998. Dick Jauron took over in 1999 until he was fired in 2003. Lovie Smith was hired on January 14, 2004. Smith was fired on December 31, 2012, after the Bears missed the playoffs with a 10–6 record after starting the season 7–1. On January 16, 2013, Marc Trestman was hired to be the new head coach to take Smith's place. Trestman was fired on December 29, 2014, with a 13–19 record over two seasons. On January 16, 2015, John Fox was hired as the new head coach of the team. He compiled a 14–34 record over three seasons before being fired on January 1, 2018. A week later, Matt Nagy became the new head coach. Nagy was fired after the 2021 season. Matt Eberflus was named the new head coach on January 27, 2022.



Coaches

 * Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2023 NFL season.

<!--==Coordinators==

Defensive coordinators
The Monsters of the Midway is most widely known as the nickname for the National Football League's Chicago Bears since the 1940s. Although the nickname is sometimes applied to the Bears team as a whole, it is primarily applied to the defensive side of the ball. This is due to the Bears having a long tradition of tough and intimidating defenses that date back to the beginning of the franchise. Both the initial association of the nickname to the Bears and its 1980s revival were due mainly to the Bears' strong defensive performances. Founder George Halas primarily played defensive end and the Bears have been credited as defensive innovators, with schemes such as the 4-3 Defense, nickel defense, 46 Defense and the Tampa 2. Over the years, 10 of the Bears defenses were ranked among the 100 stingiest defenses of all time by Cold Hard Football Facts—more than any other franchise.

The following list is a List of Chicago Bears Defensive Coordinators.

1950s

 * Clark Shaughnessy 1951–1962 – Creator of the first proper 4-3 defense

1960s

 * George Allen 1963–1965 – HOF, First coach to use "zone defense" against the pass and blitzing from defensive end position
 * Jim Dooley 1961–1967 – Innovator of the "Dooley Shift" (Type of "nickel defense")
 * Joe Fortunato 1968
 * Jimmy Carr 1969 – First to use seven defensive backs, eleven-man fronts, zone blitz schemes and special zones

1970s

 * Abe Gibron 1970–1971
 * Bill George 1972
 * Jimmy Carr (2) 1973–74
 * Jack Pardee (as head coach) 1975–1977

1980s

 * Buddy Ryan 1978–1985 – Innovator of the 46 Defense
 * Vince Tobin 1986–1992

1990s

 * Bob Slowik 1993–1998
 * Greg Blache 1999–2003

2000s

 * Ron Rivera 2004–2006
 * Bob Babich 2007–2009

2010s

 * Rod Marinelli 2010–2012
 * Mel Tucker 2013–2014
 * Vic Fangio 2015–present

Offensive coordinators
The following list is a List of Chicago Bears Offensive Coordinators.
 * Adam Gase 2015–present

Special Teams Coordinators
The following list is a List of Chicago Bears Special Teams Coordinators. -->