Now Bears Request to Interview Rob Chudzinski as OC

According to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Bears have now joined the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams in requesting permission to interview the Indianapolis Colts Rob Chudzinski for their respective offensive coordinator vacancy:

Earlier on Monday, we heard of the St. Louis Rams’ interest, while the San Francisco 49ers formally put in a request late last week. Now that the Colts are eliminated from contention, a handful of teams have seemingly come out of the shadows to express their interest in Chudzinski.

The 46-year old Chudzinski just finished his 1st year as Special Assistant to Head Coach Chuck Pagano. Before joining the Colts coaching staff, he previously was the Cleveland Browns head coach in 2013. He has over 20 years of coaching experience at both the professional and collegiate level.

As previously noted, he’s highly regarded in league circles for his ability to maximize the production of his tight ends:

"“Among his strengths, Chudzinksi is known for being somewhat of a tight end guru. Having played collegiately as a tight end while at the University of Miami and later serving as a tight ends coach, he’s well versed in the nuances of the position. Several NFL tight ends have enjoyed some of their best years under Chudzinksi’s tutelage, including Antonio Gates, Kellen Winslow Jr., Greg Olsen, and Jordan Cameron.”"

This season, the Indianapolis Colts had the 1st tight end duo in NFL history to have two tight ends that each had 8 touchdowns on the season in Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener. The former also had 29 receptions for 395 receiving yards, while the latter added 51 receptions for 774 receiving yards.

Chudzinski was originally thought to be the heavy favorite to replace Pep Hamilton as the Colts offensive coordinator should Hamilton have accepted a head coaching job. However, it now looks like it could very well be Chudzinski that is moving to new pastures if he’s offered an offensive coordinator job. Regarding other teams’ possible interest in his top assistants, Pagano commented that, “He had no knowledge of anything today.”

Image Courtesy of Colts.com- Special Assistant to Chuck Pagano, Rob Chudzinski talks football with him