Chairman George McCaskey simply couldn’t ignore the Chicago Bears’ record, no matter how much he and the rest of his family that owns the team enjoyed having general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy around.
It was time to make big changes. And the Bears did just that.
Chicago fired Pace and Nagy on Monday, hoping new leadership in the front office and on the sideline will lift a struggling franchise.
Nagy’s fate seemed sealed as the Bears struggled through a 6-11 season that ended with a loss at Minnesota on Sunday. But it was not clear if Pace also would be let go or retained in either his role or a different capacity.
McCaskey said he informed the two Monday morning.
He said the Bears have brought in Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian to be part of a five-person search team that includes president and CEO Ted Phillips. They would ideally hire a general manager first and then a coach.
The Bears have started reaching out to candidates for each job.
The Cleveland Browns have given them permission to speak with front-office members Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Glenn Cook about the GM opening.
Chicago has also contacted Buffalo to interview defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier for the head-coaching vacancy, though it’s unclear whether the Bills have yet to grant permission. Frazier, a cornerback on Chicago’s 1985 championship team, is a longtime NFL assistant and former Minnesota Vikings head coach.
Though the Bears aren’t adding a president of football operations, they are tweaking their chain of command. The new GM will report directly to McCaskey rather than to Phillips, an accountant by trade who will focus on the pending purchase of a plot of land in suburban Arlington Heights that could be the site of a future stadium. Phillips said that deal probably wouldn’t close until early 2023, at which point the organization will decide whether it’s “financially feasible to try to develop it further.”
It’s not clear how big an impact the change in command will have. Phillips will continue to have a say in whether the Bears retain or fire the GM and coach.
Whomever the Bears hire will have to solidify the quarterback position, which has haunted the founding NFL franchise for decades. That would seem to mean figuring out a way to get the most out of Justin Fields after a shaky rookie season and surround the former Ohio State star with the supporting cast to help him grow. But McCaskey sidestepped the questions when asked if candidates who express reservations about Fields would be disqualified.
The new GM and coach face a big task as they try to turn around the franchise. The Monsters of the Midway have just seven playoff appearances in the past 30 years.
The Bears went 48-65 with one winning season and made the postseason twice in the seven years since Pace was hired out of New Orleans’ front office in 2015 to replace Phil Emery. Nagy was 34-31 in four seasons, dropping seven of eight to rival Green Bay. That included a loss at Soldier Field in October in which Aaron Rodgers turned to the crowd after running for a touchdown to help secure yet another win for the Packers over Chicago and screamed, “I still own you! I still own you!”
Pace and Nagy both thanked the organization, players and staff as well as each other in statements released through the team.
The Bears have not won in the postseason since the 2010 team advanced to the NFC championship game.
Pace’s tenure was marred by his inability to settle the quarterback position. He whiffed when he traded up a spot to draft Mitchell Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes with the No. 2 pick in 2017. He also signed Mike Glennon, traded for Nick Foles and paid up for Andy Dalton. And Fields’ future is an ongoing question.
