Bears, Cardinals will interview Broncos’ McCoy

We found out earlier today that the Chicago Bears will interview Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy to be their next head coach. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is now reporting that the Arizona Cardinals are also interested.

Arizona and Chicago have asked for and received permission to interview Broncos OC Mike McCoy for their HC job. Will interview this weekend.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2012

Our top candidate to replace McCoy would be Tom Moore, quarterback Peyton Manning‘s former offensive coordinator.  If defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio lands another head coaching gig, Lovie Smith would be a nice fit in Denver.

Another option for replacing McCoy would be promoting from within. Peyton is a big fan of Broncos’ quarterback coach Adam Gase (as was pointed out by Joey Baldwin in the comments) and Denver’s running back coach, Eric Studesville, has served as a interim head coach for the Broncos in the past.

Of course, all of this is based off the assumption that McCoy will leave Denver. That may not happen, as CBS Sports’ Andrew Mason says McCoy “will be choosy,” and there is no guarantee that he will leave this offseason.

The Broncos have a bye week so McCoy will have time for interviews.  As of 1:30 p.m. MT, there have been no reports of teams asking to interview JDR, but that doesn’t mean the brilliant defensive mind won’t be courted sometime soon.