"He's the closest thing I've seen to Sean McVay" - Colin Cowherd puts Marcus Freeman in Rams Super Bowl champion's league

The Chicago Bears' search for a new coach is officially up and running. After a few failed seasons with Matt Eberflus, it appears they are casting a pretty wide net. So far, they have interviewed 13 candidates, including Pete Carroll, Aaron Glenn, Ben Johnson, Anthony Weaver and Arthur Smith. They also plan on interviewing a few more big names like Brian Flores and Kliff Kingsbury.

Another name they've requested an interview with is Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. The Fighting Irish have been fully focused on the national championship game against Ohio State on Monday, where Freeman will have an opportunity to become the youngest coach to win a natty.

Freeman has not landed interviews with any of the other NFL teams with a coaching vacancy, but it appears the Bears are leaving no stone unturned to make sure they get this one right. NFL analyst Colin Cowherd believes Chicago is doing the right thing by asking Freeman to come in for an interview. He had high praise for the Notre Dame coach, comparing him to a Super Bowl-winning coach.

"Can the Chicago Bears resist Marcus Freeman?" Cowherd said on Friday's episode of 'The Herd.' "Jordan Schultz said it’s a two-coach race – Ben Johnson, Mike McCarthy. It’s a lot of politics and dysfunction here. I couldn’t go with a young coordinator. But Marcus Freeman’s not. He’s a head coach.

"If he beats Ohio State Monday with one five-star athlete, that’s fewer than Kentucky football has and that’s a basketball school. One five-star athlete. Ohio State has 14. Do you offer him the gig? He’s the closest thing I’ve seen to Sean McVay.”

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Colin Cowherd makes strong case for Marcus Freeman to Bears

Cowherd added that Freeman's energy is a lot like Sean McVay's when he was interviewing with the LA Rams. At the time, McVay was seen as somewhat of a risky hire, but his reputation in the league as a bona fide offensive mastermind was not up for debate.

"McVay went to a Rams team that was worse than the Bears," Cowherd said. "They were 4-12 and the worst offense in the league and their quarterback went 0-7. The next year the Rams won 11 games and had the No. 1-ranked offense.

"I’m not saying Marcus Freeman’s a quarterback expert but Riley Leonard’s a lot better at Notre Dame than he was at Duke. And this team should not be playing for a national championship. My point is some people are simply different.”

So far, there has not been a timeline on if and when Freeman will interview with Chicago, given that he is prepping for the biggest game of his life. However, the race for the Bears job appears to be down to either Ben Johnson or Mike McCarthy.