Welcome, Bears fans, to one of the biggest offseasons in recent memory.

The organization has to hire a head coach. It has to beef up their offensive line and its pass rush. And there’s little margin for error.

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The Bears must get these decisions right to be competitive again, especially in a year where they’re making a serious push to build a stadium and make good on Kevin Warren’s promise to put shovels in the ground this season.

No pressure, Ryan Poles.

We’ll get into everything he has to do, a candidate he should strongly consider and some improvements required of Caleb Williams’ game in this Wednesday edition of Bair Mail:

Jackie Dixon from Chicago

There’s no other coach in question but Detroit offensive Ben Johnson, and a good defense coordinator. Please get right this time.

Bair: You aren’t the only one who feels that way, Jackie. Many Bears fans consider it Ben Johnson or bust. I get it. He’s an offensive genius who goes into the lab and comes out with zany creations that so often work.

His system has made a star out Jared Goff, and he relies on a dominant offensive line to run a ton. We don’t know how he’ll be as a head coach who has to manage a game and a culture and an entire building. That takes time away from play creation.

Can he handle all that and a passionate fan base starved for better? We don’t know any of that. It’s a gamble, but everyone’s a first-time coach at some point. Johnson’s a fun personality and a smart choice to pair with Caleb Williams, a talented individual who needs good coaching. Johnson could give him that, so I get your point that Johnson’s the top candidate.

The Bears will interview him virtually on Saturday.

I really like Mike Vrabel (and his ability to find excellent offensive coordinators) and he would be my first choice but I get the intrigue of bringing Johnson to Chicago.

If Ryan Poles can land that plane – that’s uncertain, considering how good the NFC North is and some organizational question marks – it would be a win for Chicago.

Michael Rosser from Winthrop Harbor, Ill.

Bears have been making bad decisions for quite some time now. Poles wanted “his team” this is it.

Bair: Poles has been the architect of this Bears team, stemming back to the 2022 tear down. The goal was to get into solid salary cap standing (which they are) and to build up a level of talent. Let’s be honest, though, there is talent on this Bears roster. Poles has generally made smart choices with massive contracts, like DJ Moore and Jaylon Johnson.

He has missed a several moves – Nate Davis comes to mind – and there’s clearly not enough depth on the roster at key spots. He needs to do more work on the lines and I think he will this offseason.

He built the 2024 roster from the outside in, an atypical philosophy to be sure. Poles addressed that fact on Tuesday and added some context.

“I also think you have to look at the situations in terms of when you go through the draft or a trade deal, it’s what’s best available,” Poles said. “Also, when you go through free agency, we are looking at a board of what’s there. Just because it’s the philosophy (to build the lines first), it doesn’t mean that every year there are answers at those positions for you to take. But obviously, I believe in that and I definitely think we have all of the assets that we need and from a draft, free agency, I think some things line up for us to care of some of those deals.”

You may disagree, but I think Poles is a solid talent evaluator and roster builder. The issue is clearly hiring or decisions on a head coach. He should’ve canned Matt Eberflus after last season and he should’ve shut down the coordinator hires. That’s why there’s a lack of confidence in his ability to nail the head coach hire. This might be the most important stretch of his tenure, and the Bears 2025 performance could impact his status with the club.

Ed Purmann from Huntley, Ill.

Although l agree that Williams has shown flashes of stardom l am troubled by his consistent overthrows to his receivers. Is this correctable?

Bair: It certainly is, Ed. I also agree that his deep connections aren’t great, which is largely why the Bears took so few deep shots down the home stretch. They simply weren’t impactful despite the fact the Bears have two excellent deep threats in DJ Moore and Rome Odunze.

According to NextGen Stats, Williams completed 16 of 68 passes for 514 yards, four touchdowns and all but one of his six interceptions for a 47.5 rating on passes of 20-plus air yards. He was under pressure for 25 of those attempts, when he often scrambles for a long time before throwing the ball deep when it’s relatively uncatchable. His completion percentage on those passes is minus-13.2% over expectation. That’s not good.

Part of it is timing. Part of it is technique. Part of it is repetitions with his guys. All that will be part of his offseason work.

“It starts with detail between the receiver and (me),” Williams said. “From there, it’s about identifying opportunities and being able to get on the same page early on. It’s about making route adjustments and knowing where he likes the ball.”