The discussion surrounding a potential marriage between former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis and the Bears as their next offensive coordinator has been all the rage as of late, drawing a tremendous amount of attention across the board, in both the national and local media.

While it certainly won’t slow down the Weis circus, another potential candidate for the still filled position in Chicago came to light earlier this evening in the form of one Jeremy Bates, formerly the quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos and now the offensive coordinator under Pete Carroll at USC.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Bates could make the jump up to the NFL and become the next offensive coordinator in Chicago, if the Bears do indeed decide to fire Ron Turner, who is currently serving in that capacity with the team. Schefter cites a consistent willingness on the part of Carroll to let his assistants seek higher positions elsewhere and the excellent relationship between Bears QB Jay Cutler and Bates.

Obviously, it’s still pretty early in the game for all of these rumors, especially when you consider that Turner has not been fired and the team hasn’t given too much indication that it’s probable at this point. But that said, there seems to be at least two solid possibilities for Chicago to work with this off-season, should they decide to make a move to upgrade their offensive coaching staff, both of which would give their franchise QB a legitimate chance to become the leader they expected him to be when they traded away a multitude of picks and players for him last spring.

Other posts you may enjoy:

1. Chicago to add Weis at season’s end?
2. Martz to Chicago gaining steam
3. Weis done at Notre Dame; on his way to the NFL?
4. Chicago, Houston potential landing spots for Shanahan
5. Weis may be an option in Buffalo