(670 The Score) There’s really no great way to introduce the quotes you’re about to read. I don’t want to go too far out on a ledge here, but things didn’t go super well on Monday afternoon. If the Bears actually are cleaning house and starting over, like chairman George McCaskey suggested during an hour-long press conference while addressing the firings of general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy, maybe they’d be smart to take a second look at whichever expensive River North consulting agency approved McCaskey’s opening statements or advised him on response strategy.
In a way, there was an impressive quality to the way McCaskey made the situation worse, almost on a per-question basis. The media session got off to a roaring start when he used the very beginning of his opening statement to admonish high school students for starting a "fire Nagy" chant almost two months ago. You know, as NFL owners often do.
“An NFL head coach understands and accepts that he’ll be subjected to a fair amount of criticism and that unfortunately, some of it will be personal,” McCaskey said, getting ahead of the question on everyone’s mind. “Coach’s children do not strike the same bargain. What Matt’s oldest son was made to endure at a high school playoff football game was shameful and inexcusable.”
Shortly after came the announcement that Bears would be (extremely Nick Fury voice) putting a team of exceptional individuals together to conduct the search for a new general manager and coach. Not only that, but former executive Bill Polian will be involved. In case you picked up the NFL any time in the last decade and aren’t totally aware of things like Polian’s credentials or existence, he’s in the Hall of Fame. He’s also 79. Did you know that he recently wrote a book? McCaskey was so excited about it that he felt compelled to mention it.
“In our conversations with Bill Polian – in fact he just wrote a book, 'Super Bowl Blueprints,' where he talks about what it takes to get to and win the Super Bowl – he said he was even struck by great teams have coaches that the players respect,” McCaskey responded to a question about potential new candidates. “They don’t have to like him, they don’t have to love him, but they respect him. So the primary quality we’ll be looking for in both the general manager and the head coach is leadership.”
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And then he decided to mention it again, because that’s what friends do.
“Bill Polian talks in his books about decisions that he made as a general manager that were considered wildly unpopular at the time but eventually they bore fruit,” McCaskey said. “And you have to be ready and willing to make what may very well be an unpopular decision if you're convinced it's best for the Bears.”
While McCaskey seems acutely aware of what it takes to be ready and willing to make unpopular decisions, the faintly arrogant tone in which he answered questions only helped emphasize what was already pretty clear: The Bears are going to keep doing what they want to do. The press conference Monday was a great example of what ownership in the NFL gets you – privilege is losing 100 games in a decade and proudly defending your job security by pointing to the approval of the team owner, your mom.
“She was consulted,” McCaskey said of his mother, Virginia. “She was conferred with, as was every other member of the Bears board. Everybody wants to win one for her. And we’re doing everything we can to make that happen. At one point in our conversations, I asked her for her assessment of our season, and she said, as only a mother can, ‘I’m very, very disappointed.’”
Privilege is literally saying, “Well, I’m just a fan” and then still making the new general manager report to you. It’s being told that despite all the talk of change, 2022’s looking a lot like 2015 already and responding with this.
“Yeah that's the important thing and I don't think we're gong to convince them today or like I said, perhaps even the day that our next general manager and head coach are introduced," McCaskey said. "We've got to have results on the field. That's the only thing that matters, and that's when we'll win Bears fans over. Bill Polian talks in his books about decisions that he made as a general manager that were considered wildly unpopular at the time but eventually they bore fruit, and you have to be ready and willing to make what may very well be an unpopular decision if you're convinced its best for the Bears.”
You might be thinking, "Hey, I already read that quote." You’re right! You did! But doesn’t context make it even better? There were also weird comments on a potential move to Arlington Heights, a wildly ironic conversation about semantics and a response to former Bears center Olin Kreutz's recent accusation that reached Extremely Midwestern levels of passive aggression. And don’t worry, if you were concerned that the Bears were dangerously close to insulting George Halas (who was mentioned today) with a modern offense, it sounds like you don’t need to be concerned.
“We are looking for a general manager and a head coach who can develop not just the quarterback position but the talent around him,” McCaskey said. “Establishing a strong defense to help the quarterback, to bring the Bears to success."
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.