The Bears finished 8-8 in 2019 after going 12-4 and winning the NFC North a year prior. In the aftermath, Chicago underwent some notable changes this past offseason, including reshuffling coach Matt Nagy's offensive staff and acquiring veteran Nick Foles to compete with incumbent Mitchell Trubisky for the starting quarterback job.
After all that went into the offseason, the Bears hope to re-emerge as a playoff team in 2020. And Pace's job could depend on it.
As training camp opened at Halas Hall this week, Pace feels confidence from Bears chairman George McCaskey and team president Ted Phillips.
"We all have the same goals and the same vision for this season," Pace said Wednesday. "Last year was disappointing for all of us. That starts with me. That's hard to swallow. It's disappointing. There's a number of factors that went into that. Just being real with ourselves this offseason and making hard decisions, whether it's the roster or it's staff or it's different things we're doing here at Halas, all those hard decisions, I feel like they've been made or continue to be made.
"We all put our egos aside and what's best for the team. I feel the full support from George and from Ted."
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The Bears have gone 34-46 across five regular seasons with one playoff trip since Pace was hired as general manager in 2015. Pace inherited a roster that needed major repairs and oversaw a rebuilding process over his first three years that led to the playoff breakthrough in 2018.
More recently, he has faced increased scrutiny after the disappointing 2019 and some roster decisions that didn't work out. Pace has received major criticism for the selection of Trubisky at No. 2 overall in the 2017 draft. The ascension of draft classmates Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson has magnified the struggles of Trubisky, who's entering the final season of his rookie contract without assurances to his future with the organization.
Chicago opens its season at Detroit on Sept. 13.