The Chicago Bears promised they would cast a wide net in their search for the next GM. George McCaskey described it as “thorough” and “exhausting.” Thus far it appears they are living up to that promise. As of this moment, a total of 13 candidates have been officially identified. There could be more too. Monti Ossenfort, the Titans director of player personnel, wasn’t reported prior to his own interview taking place.
So the Bears are indeed meeting with several candidates. This leads one to think that it truly is anybody’s job to win. Then again, there is a lingering sliver of doubt this is the case. A few days ago, Adam Jahns and Kevin Fishbain published a terrific column for The Athletic. It chronicled McCaskey’s time as team chairman and how he handled previous GM and head coach searches. The one that stuck out most was involving Ryan Pace. Specifically how it seemed like the entire process was nothing more than a media spectacle.
The Bears knew who they were going to hire from the start.
“That thing stunk,” a former employee said. “It’s a good ol’ boy thing. Ryan Pace was a recommendation from (Saints GM) Mickey Loomis. Loomis and Ted are tight. (Saints coach) Sean Payton wanted Pace to be GM. Accorsi and Payton are connected. There was a reason Pace interviewed last.”
Ernie Accorsi was the former Giants GM who McCaskey had tagged as a consultant to guide the search. Fast forward seven years and now the chairman is doing it again. This time with Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian leading the way. While it makes sense to request help from somebody with far more football knowledge, it’s hard not to feel like history is repeating itself. Just look at the list of interviews the Bears have held already and which ones are still to come.
GM interviews completed:
- Glenn Cook
- Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
- Champ Kelly
- Jeff Ireland
- Monti Ossenfort
GM interviews to come:
- Morocco Brown
- Joe Schoen
- Ed Dodds
- Rick Smith
- Ran Carthon
- Eliot Wolf
- JoJo Wooden
- Omar Khan
People shouldn’t be surprised by how this is shaping up if you follow the clues. Brown and Dodds both work for the Indianapolis Colts whom Polian has deep ties to as their former GM. The same goes for Schoen in Buffalo. Brown also worked for the Bears from 2001 to 2007. Wooden is an understudy of Chargers GM Tom Telesco who himself was an understudy of Polian in Indianapolis.
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Carthon played for the Polians’ Colts from 2004 to 2006 as a running back. Wolf is the son of fellow Hall of Fame GM Ron Wolf whom Polian knows well. That leaves Khan and Smith. Khan has served in the Steelers’ front office since 2001. Pittsburgh is owned by the Rooney family to whom McCaskey has admitted having close ties. As for Smith? He is the most qualified former GM available and happened to serve in the same division against Polian for several years when running the Houston Texans.
The Chicago Bears probably know who they plan to hire
Determining who that is will come from in which order the organization structures its interviews. Whoever goes earlier in the process is unlikely to wind up with the job. Conversely, whoever goes last can be considered the favorite. That is what happened with Pace back in 2015. Schoen is scheduled for his interview Sunday, January 16th. That makes it hard to think he is in their plans. Unless he crushes his interview.
It would be at all a surprise if the Chicago Bears have maybe three or four candidates in mind for the job with maybe one or two favorites. This process they’re undergoing is more of a fact-finding mission. A way to see if some other top names out there can blow them away. A sensible idea, but the reality is this may come down to the cold reality of business. It isn’t what you know. It is who you know.
Anybody with ties to McCaskey or Polian is getting this job.
Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most of the candidates mentioned above are highly qualified to run their own teams. Smith, Dodds, Schoen, and Khan in particular. Still, it’s hard not to feel a sense of trepidation considering what happened last time.
