Bears HC Search: Anthony Weaver Coached Top-5 Unit in 2024

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears completed their second day of interviews in the search for their next head coach, speaking with Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Weaver is the second former player the team has interviewed for the position.

Weaver joins ex-Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who interviewed for the position on Wednesday.

Dolphins’ Defensive Uptick Notable as Anthony Weaver Interviews With Bears

Record: 12-21 (as DC)
Playoff Record: N/A

Anthony Weaver’s Background Could Play Well in Bears Locker Room

Weaver has spent the past 13 years in the NFL coaching ranks. He had stints in the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets organizations.

He was the Texans’ defensive coordinator in 2020. He lasted one season with his former boss and ex-Texans head coach Bill O’Brien fired during the campaign.

Weaver’s Dolphins ranked No. 4 in yards allowed and No. 10 in scoring in 2024.

They were a respectable 10th in yards but also 22nd in scoring in 2023. Weaver accomplished a significant turn in just one season. However, his limited resume could mean he is more of an information-gathering meeting than a true interview for the head coaching job.

Weaver notably worked with Mike Vrabel in Houston in 2016 and 2017. He could be a defensive coordinator option should the latter get the Bears job. The two sides could add another title to make it legal.

Dolphins Players Rave About Anthony Weaver

“He’s a fun coach to play under. He really established an exciting culture and allows us a lot of room to just grow within it, so I’m enjoying myself a lot,” safety Jevon Holland said, per ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacque in August. “Weaver is super dope, man, as a person, as an ex-player, as a coach — you could just feel it.

“He understands where we’re coming from, wants to hear us and our input on the defense, and then is able to put that into how the defense is called and how the defense is taught. … He’s really a solid dude.”

Holland was not alone, either.

Dolphins teammate and linebacker Jordyn Brooks also expressed his delight with having Weaver as a coach.

“What I like about Weaver, he doesn’t force it. You can tell when somebody is kind of forcing a relationship or trying to just do things. He’s kind of really natural and organic, just literally, you might be standing off and he might tap you on the shoulder and talk about whatever. Little moments, like I said, they go a long way. It’s like, ‘Oh, I thought you were going to talk to me about ball,’ and he asked me something personal,” Brooks said, per Louis-Jaque.

“That just goes a long way, and I think he does a great job of just doing that, just being who he is, and I don’t think it’s forced at all. So I think in the long run, you’ll see a lot of guys playing hard for him just because he’s able to reach guys on a personal level.”

Whether or not that makes Weaver a good head coach aside, he has a knack for connecting.