SM reported yesterday that Chicago Bears team chairman George McCaskey has not yet made a decision regarding the fates of both GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy. He is doing a thorough evaluation of the entire team infrastructure to determine whether or not changes are needed. Expectations at this point are that at least some will happen. Perhaps even a full housecleaning.
Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog has strong connections inside the organization. He revealed this morning that McCaskey and the rest of the team higher-ups met for over five hours on Monday discussing the topic. Thus far a resolution has not been reached. They are meeting again at the time of writing this. Based on everything gathered, a decision is expected no later than early this afternoon.
Bears brass will meet again this morning, after meeting yesterday for north of 5 hours.
Nothing has been decided yet.
But it would be surprising if we don’t hear something from the organization by late morning, early afternoon.
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 12, 2021
A lot of this hinges on McCaskey’s personal feelings.
It isn’t a secret that the Bears owner and others in the organization like Pace. He’s represented the franchise well, rebuilt the entire football operations, renovated Halas Hall, and pulled them out of one of the worst periods in team history. The defense he built is impressive and by all accounts, he’s a classy guy. The two have shared a relationship for almost six years now.
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As for Nagy, a lot of people presume he’s safe because he’s yet to have a losing season in Chicago and has now made the playoffs twice. This despite his offenses looking less than adequate during most of his tenure and overseeing a 3-8 finish to 2020 including back-to-back blowout losses at the hands of Green Bay and New Orleans. Contrary to popular belief, his fate is just as uncertain as Pace’s.
Chicago Bears brass need to hear an action plan
What do Pace and Nagy have planned for the future? Their last one certainly didn’t get the desired results. Trading for Nick Foles and signing Robert Quinn to a huge deal blew up in their faces. Foles was 2-5 as a starter and Quinn finished with just two sacks on the season. Now Mitch Trubisky is a free agent and coming off two of his worst games of the years. So the Bears basically have no clear solutions at quarterback.
To say nothing of Pace’s inability to secure star wide receiver Allen Robinson long-term. All of these factors must be considered. Are Nagy and Pace equipped to get this team not only back to the playoffs but deeper into them next year? They can’t do that without a quarterback, obviously. Do they have a way to find somebody who is an upgrade over what they have? If the answer is no, then the belief is McCaskey will see a fresh start as the likely option.
One thing is for sure. No changes will be a hard sell to fans.
This Chicago Bears team appears to be trending in the wrong direction. The offense is still bad. They still have no quarterback. The defense is getting older with their productivity dipping. There just isn’t a lot to feel optimistic about right now. That is the problem more than anything. It is hard to gauge any sort of bright future for them. That falls at the feet of Nagy and Pace.