Chicago Bears fans who completely unplugged from the NFL news cycle on Christmas Day probably missed one interesting nugget about the franchise’s head coach possibilities.

No worries: We’re here to catch you up.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter cited league sources in reporting Wednesday that Pete Carroll “has expressed interest” in the Bears’ head coach vacancy, though he hasn’t yet spoken to the team.

Carroll, who will turn 74 early next season, obviously isn’t an attractive up-and-comer such as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson but, as Schefter noted in his report, he has a history of successfully resetting a program’s culture.

In 2001, Carroll took over at USC, which hadn’t won a national championship in 23 years, and quickly claimed a title in 2004. He left the school after the 2009 season for the Seattle Seahawks, whom he took to the playoffs in 10 of his 14 seasons, including one Super Bowl victory in two appearances.

Carroll could have won one more college football championship and one more Super Bowl title if not for last-minute heartbreak, with Vince Young’s fourth-down touchdown run vaulting Texas over USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl and New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception ending the Seahawks’ Super Bowl XLIX rally. Carroll received heavy criticism for not calling for a Marshawn Lynch run from the 1-yard line in the latter game.

The Seahawks ousted Carroll after last season but retained him as an advisor. He owns a 170-120-1 record in 18 NFL seasons, as he also coached the New York Jets (1994) and New England Patriots (1997 to 1999).

Carroll would be an interesting choice should the Bears decide to go that route. While his coaching background primarily is on defense, Carroll has a history of developing young quarterbacks, including Carson Palmer, Matt Cassel, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley at USC and Russell Wilson in Seattle. Carroll also helped turn Geno Smith — who coincidentally will start Thursday night against the Bears at Soldier Field — from a draft bust for the Jets to a two-time Pro Bowl QB for the Seahawks.

Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams, who finished his collegiate career at USC, likely knows of Carroll’s feats as a result.

Carroll also is well known for his high energy, which belies his age, and his positivity. The Bears certainly could use both traits after a trying 2024 season in which they started 4-2 but fired Matt Eberflus last month and installed Thomas Brown as interim coach amidst a soul-draining 11-game losing streak.

More names certainly will surface as Chicago’s woebegone season wraps, with Johnson and Carroll just the start. But they show the wide difference in candidate experience and philosophy that the Bears must wade through over the next month to find the right leader.