Bears HC candidate profile: Should Matt Campbell be in consideration?

An incredibly long and wide net has been cast as the Chicago Bears search for their next head coach following a disappointing 2024 season. The search has been included coaches from all walks, whether it's the hot commodity offensive coordinator like Ben Johnson, former veteran head coaches, or a coach from the college ranks like Iowa State's Matt Campbell.

In a list that has featured approximately 20 different coaches, the Bears are proving they are leaving no stone left unturned for a coaching hire that they have to hit on. Although he's never coached at the NFL level, Campbell has had plenty of success as a head coach in college football, being named the AP Big 12 Coach Of the Year twice and he became the winningest coach in Iowa State Cyclones program history in 2024. Currently, Campbell has a 64-51 record at Iowa State, a 99-66 overall career record, and is coming off a 2024 season where he led Iowa State to a Big 12 title and a win in the Pop Tarts Bowl.

Although he's previously been linked to coaching vacancies with the New York Jets and Detroit Lions, Campbell has been entrenched at Iowa State since 2016. This season, Campbell signed an extension that would keep him as the Cyclones head coach through 2032, and he once again finds his name in NFL coaching conversations.

Here's an in-depth look at Campbell, one of a few college coaches the Bears are looking at in their head coaching search:

Background

• Current job: Head coach, Iowa State Cyclones (2016-Present)

• Age: 45

• Hometown: Massillon, Ohio

• College: University of Pittsburgh/University of Mount Union

Experience

• Head coach, Iowa State Cyclones (2016-Present)

• Head coach, University of Toledo (2012-2015)

• Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, University of Toledo (2010-2011)

• Running game coordinator and offensive line coach, University of Toledo (2009)

• Running game coordinator and offensive line coach, Bowling Green State University (2008)

• Offensive line coach, Bowling Green State University (2007)

• Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, University of Mount Union (2005-2006)

• Graduate Assistant, Bowling Green State University (2003-2004)

Fit with Bears

Campbell's potential fit with the Bears is an interesting one, and if they want him badly enough, they'll have a $4 million buyout to consider, as well. The biggest question mark around Campbell is what staff he would potentially bring to the NFL level and what his plans are for working with quarterback Caleb Williams. Not unknown to building talent, two of Campbell's biggest pupils at Iowa State are San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and New York Jets running back Breece Hall.

Campbell's biggest asset and contribution comes in terms of leadership and building culture and structure within a football organization. Throughout much of the failed 2024 season, players on the Bears were openly calling to be coached harder, challenged tougher, and for more accountability at every level, none of which would be an issue with Campbell running the show.

Bringing the Bears back to a respectable culture, building an organization that gets back to success, while having leadership at every level, Campbell would be embraced by the franchise and city. The biggest concern again comes back to what Campbell would do in terms of his offensive and defensive coordinators, as well as his coaching staff as a whole. General manager Ryan Poles mentioned that the coaching search would include a surprise name, and if for nothing else, Campbell is quite the surprise name in this cycle.

They said it....

"I think the great thing for us, and whether it’s right or wrong, this is how we’ve had to do it here. Somebody else may do it different. But for me, my believe has always been our alignment to a vision of attitude, effort, character, young people aligned to a vision of how do we do an incredible job of developing those people within our football program. We’ve never wavered from that.”

-- Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell on his vision for the football program he wanted to build (via SI.com)

Bottom line

With all due respect to what he has done at the college level, Campbell should be viewed as a surprise name in this search, and should be left as just that. Campbell has built an incredible program at Iowa State, and with a contract extension that keeps him there until 2032, there's no reason he should be looking at the NFL, or NFL teams should be looking at him. Campbell doesn't come off as either an offensive or defensive genius, but he builds programs and structure.

Unfortunately for Campbell, or maybe fortunately if his heart is in college, the Bears are looking for someone who can not only change the culture, but direct the future of quarterback Caleb Williams. There are other options for Chicago who come with more of a high-quality offense and others who are veteran coaches at the NFL level who know what it takes to win.

When it is all said and done, Campbell is great for college football, he is great for the Iowa State Cyclones, and he's a great football coach, but he doesn't make sense for the Bears. It's important to meet with many different coaches from various backgrounds, but this meeting between both parties seems unnecessary.

This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears HC candidate profile: Should Matt Campbell be in consideration?