ESPN reported that former Chicago coach Lovie Smith is the early front-runner for the vacant head-coaching. According to a source, if Smith gets the job, he has lined up former University of California coach Jeff Tedford to be his offensive coordinator, a source said Monday.

Smith has several other coaches in mind for his staff, but getting Tedford is seen as a key for Smith, whose offensive philosophy has been questioned severely since his days with the Bears.

Tedford was the head coach at Cal from 2002 to 2012. Prior to that, he spent six years at Fresno State and four years at Oregon as an offensive coordinator or quarterback coach. Between the three stops, Tedford helped develop quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Trent Dilfer, David Carr, Joey Harrington, Akili Smith and Kyle Boller.

All six became first-round picks and two (Rodgers and Dilfer) have led teams to Super Bowl victories.
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