The Chicago Bears have been granted permission to interview Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements for their head coaching gig, ESPN Wisconsin's Jason Wilde reports. The Bears requested the opportunity to interview Clements on Monday, which the Packers later granted.
Packers grant Tom Clements permission to interview with Bears
The Chciago Bears reached out to another offensive-minded head coaching candidate recently, this time from their most hated rivals, the Green Bay Packers.
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This isn’t the first time that Chicago has tried to interview Clements, as Windy City Gridiron’s Dane Noble notes. A couple years ago, the Packers refused to grant the Bears permission to interview Clements, then Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach, for Chicago’s offensive coordinator opening, which eventually went to Mike Martz for a short period.
Known for running an aggressive passing offense in Green Bay with the likes of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, Clements would provide exactly the kind of coaching style that Chicago seems to desire at this time. After failing to win a championship under the defensive-minded Lovie Smith, most of Chicago's coaching targets appear to favor offense.
The Bears never technically needed to ask the Packers permission to interview Clements, as Kevin McCauley of Acme Packing Company writes, but the team did so anyways out of respect. Assistant coaches can interview for head coaching openings without permission, but they can be blocked from interviewing for other opportunities.
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