Before Jim Bob Cooter landed a job as the Lions’ quarterbacks coach for the 2014 season, he had a job on John Fox’s staff in Denver as an offensive assistant.
It seems Fox liked what he saw of Cooter during their year together with the Broncos. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Bears requested permission to interview Cooter for the offensive coordinator position on Fox’s staff in Chicago.
They’ll have to look elsewhere, however. Rapoport adds that the Lions have denied the request, as is their right under NFL rules governing when teams must allow assistant coaches to interview with other teams.
The interest in Cooter for a coordinator position continues a fast rise for the 30-year-old assistant, who helped guide Matthew Stafford to his fewest interceptions in a full season and his second-best completion percentage as a professional player. Those are certainly the kind of strides that the Bears would like to see from Jay Cutler if he’s back next season, but they’ll need to find someone else who will surely have a less colorful name to help steer the ship.