Bears need Mitching coach in relief of Fox

The Sun- Times’ experts can answer your Bears questions all week on Twitter. Here’s a sampling of queries sent to @ patrickfinley, who responds with more than 280 characters:

@ SvennyJ6: Leading candidates for the Bears’ soon- to- be- open [ headcoaching] job? Chance [ defensive coordinator Vic] Fangio is retained?

A: It isn’t Jeff Fisher, who apparently is trying to get back into coaching.

The Bears will look at the top offensive minds with hopes they can develop Mitch Trubisky into a franchise cornerstone. On their list, I presume: the Patriots’ Josh McDaniels, the Eagles’ Frank Reich and John DeFilippo, the Saints’ Pete Carmichael. Also, maybe Chiefs special- teams coordinator Dave Toub gets a call.

As for Fangio: Remember, he turned down a chance to sign a contract extension this offseason, making him a free agent after this year. I doubt he’d return as coordinator if the Bears don’t give him a head- coaching interview.

@ BearsEst1920: Should we really trust Ryan Pace to sign good [ free agents]? His 2017 FAsignees were brutal: [ quarterback Mike] Glennon, [ cornerback Marcus] Cooper, [ wide receiver Markus] Wheaton, [ tight end Dion] Sims, [ safety Quintin] Demps. You could argue they all get cut this offseason. How do we know this won’t happen again?

A: Maybe Sims stays. The rest, though, are more likely to play elsewhere next year.

That free- agent class— one of the NFL’s worst this decade— is the main argument for finding a new GM. Pace shouldn’t be forgiven for those moves, but they were meant to be patch jobs. He structured the contracts in a way that the Bears could let those players walk, with minimal financial penalty, at the end of this season.

Still, Pace signed Akiem Hicks and Josh Sitton two years ago and Prince Amukamara last year. Those were wins. And I maintain that you can’t judge the GM without knowing whether he did the right thing in trading for Trubisky. We won’t know that for at least another year.

@ BearBoards: Assuming contracts not being a factor, and you were only able to keep one, would you re- sign [ Kyle] Fuller or Amukamara?

A: Good question. I think Amukamara is the better player today, but I’d keep Fuller, who is 2 ½ years younger, because he has more room to grow. Contracts, of course, will be a factor this offseason when both become free agents. I’d tread cautiously. Both have played well enough to return next year on sizable deals, but I’d let someone else overpay them.