Poles hires Cunningham as assistant general manager
New Bears general manager Ryan Poles has made his second known hire, this one to join him in the front office.
Poles hired Philadelphia Eagles director of player personnel Ian Cunningham to be his assistant GM, the Bears announced Saturday. Cunningham is the first person to hold that title with the Bears.
Cunningham has worked for 14 seasons in the NFL, getting his start in the Baltimore Ravens scouting department and spending the last five years in Philadelphia. Before he was elevated to his current role this season, he served as the Eagles assistant director of player personnel for two seasons (2019-20) and as the director of college scouting for two seasons (2017-18).
Like Poles, Cunningham is a former offensive lineman. He played at Virginia.
The new hire comes five days after the Bears hired Poles to be GM and two days after Poles hired Matt Eberflus to be the head coach.
Meanwhile, Eberflus continued conducting interviews to fill out his coaching staff.
NFL Network also reported the Bears were interviewing Jacksonville Jaguars wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal for the offensive coordinator position. Lal has been a wide receivers coach in the NFL since 2007 with the Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks and now the Jaguars this season.
He joins a list of reported coordinator candidates that includes Green Bay Packers passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy, Houston Texans passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton and Eagles passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo.