The Chicago Bears brass spoke to the media today at Halas Hall after they completed their exit interviews with players on Monday. I was immediately reminded of a general rule of thumb in sports: Bad teams usually stay bad because of bad ownership. Ownership that’s too cheap to spend, too hands-on, or too clueless to understand what’s truly going on. It’s often a combination of those traits.
Then there’s the Chicago Bears, who trot out George McCaskey as the face of their mom-and-pop shop ownership group, a man who sounds increasingly incompetent every time he speaks to the media.
Here’s a fun nugget from McCaskey’s conversation with reporters today: When asked whether contractual alignment between the GM and head coach is important in the interview process, McCaskey said: “I don’t think that’s a factor.”
George, I’m willing to bet you’re wrong. In fact, it’s been reported that multiple candidates—including Ben Johnson—desire that alignment and will demand it. And they should. Why would a head coaching candidate with options want to take a job where the GM’s future isn’t, minimally, tethered to the head coaching hire?
© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesMcCaskey took the football dumb a step further when asked what would happen if a head coaching candidate requested a power structure with a direct line to the owner.
“Our structure is vertical. Coach reports to GM, GM reports to the president, president reports to the chairman.”
When asked if that type of request would be a deal-breaker, McCaskey replied, “I haven’t ever experienced anyone saying that. Usually, they want the job.”
Sure, when you shop in the bargain bin and hire the Dollar Tree version of Lovie Smith in Matt Eberflus, they want the job, no questions asked. When you’re hiring a Canadian Football League coach in Marc Trestman, they want the job, no questions asked. When hiring a past-his-prime John Fox, he wants the job, no questions asked. When hiring an Andy Reid disciple who was a game-planning assistant in Matt Nagy, he wants the job, no questions asked.
That’s what George McCaskey refuses to understand: if you want to hire a “world-class coach,” as Kevin Warren said in his media session today, the interview process isn’t going to look like what you’re used to. It’s not going to be someone who just wants the job.
Circling back to the GM and head coach alignment point, Ryan Poles was asked whether he was extended or not, and Poles refused to answer the question but acknowledged that he would share that answer with head coaching interviewees who inquire (which, if you’re following along, will be all of then worth hiring).
© Daniel Bartel-Imagn ImagesThe Chicago Bears End-of-Season Brass Interviews Were More of the Same
Tone deaf, condescending, non-committal, defensive, and, at times, downright delusional. That’s the vibe I got from listening to the chief decision-makers at Halas Hall today speak to the media in separate settings.
Ryan Poles sounds defeated and danced around questions regarding his poor decisions that led to the Bears taking a significant step backward in 2024. Kevin Warren sounds like a used car salesman, and George McCaskey sounds like that one uncle at holiday dinners who knows absolutely nothing about football.
Which isn’t anything new, truthfully.
No matter who they trot in front of the microphone, the Bears always come away looking like bumbling, stumbling, goof balls. Honestly, I have no idea why the Ben Johnsons of the world would even consider taking a job at the three-ring circus at 1920 Football Drive.
At one point, Ryan Poles was asked about Caleb Williams’s dealing with constant “disruption and stress” throughout his rookie season. He had the audacity to ask the reporter to define disruption and stress as if that weren’t a pretty obvious assessment of an environment that featured his offensive coordinator and head coach being fired within a month of each other in the middle of a 10-game losing streak.
Poles provided minimal information that we could consider helpful regarding their head coaching search and plans for the offseason. Luis recapped the essential points this afternoon, and you can check them out below.
MORE: RYAN POLES’ END-OF-SEASON PRESS CONFERENCE RECAP
I have to go back to George McCaskey, whose lack of understanding of what a legitimate head coaching candidate would expect from a potential employer wasn’t the worst thing he said today.
McCaskey was asked whether he heard the Soldier Field fans chanting for him and his family to sell the team during their embarrassing 6-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in primetime in Week 17.
“Our fans are passionate,” McCaskey said Tuesday at Halas Hall. “They’re incredibly frustrated. They wanted to make their voices heard. I was more bothered by the week before when Lions fans tried to take over Soldier Field and force the home team to go to a silent snap count. Fortunately, that didn’t happen [that the Bears needed a silent count].
“It’s understandable that Bears fans would sell their tickets because of the way the season has gone, and the challenge for us is to put a team on the field that Bears fans are so excited about that they’re not interested in selling their tickets.”
So, he is not concerned with the fans despising him and his family but is worried about fans selling their overpriced tickets to opposing fans.
Again, as tone-deaf as it gets.
(Screenshot via Chicago Bears/YouTube)To return to my original point, the Chicago Bears haven’t won a playoff game since George McCaskey, the latest McCaskey family member to chair the franchise, took over in 2011. Bad teams stay bad because of bad ownership.
In the 14 years George McCaskey has been at the helm, the Bears have hired three general managers and four head coaches. When asked what’s different this time and, specifically, what evidence is there that he learned from the previous processes, here’s what McCaskey had to say:
“Well, the idea is to get it right. Bears fans deserve a winner, and we’re going to do everything we can. I think with Ryan’s leadership and the process that he’s outlined, and with guidance from Kevin, Ryan is going to make the best decision going forward.”
This was another lip-service answer that dodged the vital question of why this hiring process would be different from the previous one.
So, it was asked again …
“Well … Ryan has the benefit of his experience, and he has the benefit of the guidance from Kevin, who’s been through this process before. So, we’re hoping for a better result.”
You’re hoping for a better result. Shucks. Aren’t we all?
Well, if that doesn’t sum up George and the rest of the McCaskeys, I don’t know what does. A bunch of football lifers who know nothing about football and are placing the future of this franchise on hopes and wishes, an inexperienced GM who has already blown a head coach hire and two offensive coordinator hires, and a president who was brought here to build a stadium, and has done nothing on that front himself.
Nothing is changing at Halas Hall, and unless the Bears change their tune during this interview process, I can’t imagine they’ll land a prominent head coaching candidate who could help turn this franchise around.
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