Well, then the Bears won't be paying him minimum wage. And they had better get him an O-line to help Williams. I just wonder what kind of control or power McCarthy would have. As has been said. The Bears aren't just interviewing coaches. The coaches are interviewing the Bears.
The old "Bears are cheap" line is just not really true anymore, lets remove the stadium from that discussion.
Coaches are always interviewing the organizations as any candidate in any field should do.
I highly doubt McCarthy would get any type of personnel decision making other than normal GM/coach conversation. Now, his experience might lead his voice to be heard more than others, but I don't think he gets any control.
I fully expect high value resources dedicated to OL this offseason (draft capital and FA) and DL for that matter.
It is not the "reaching for the stars" move but it is also not settling for the 2nd/3rd best OC/DC move either. He is established, has his strengths and has his known weaknesses. They might just lock him up if they feel they have some intense comp for Johnson, then you might be on the list that is not optimal, IMO. Who knows though, I do know that no matter what many will still bitch and moan, lol.