When one person mentions something about the Chicago Bears, it’s best to ignore it. When multiple people do it, the best thing to do is stop and take notice. This is an important week for the organization. Based on the current timeline, expectations are they will likely find their replacements for GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy by next weekend. Several interviews are lined up with candidates from both lists.
That said, multiple sources indicate George McCaskey and his search team would prefer to secure a GM first before hiring a coach. Not a big surprise seeing as how they’ve always operated this way in the past. This is where things get interesting though. Recently it was reported that Chiefs director of player personnel Ryan Poles will get a second interview with the team. The first such candidate to do so. However, there are now whispers another plan could be in play. It started when Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog posted this.
For those in @WaddleandSilvy’s “it starts at the top” club, today’s interview with Omar Khan should be of serious interest. Khan is not only a candidate for GM. He’s a candidate to run the shop.
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 24, 2022
This would seem to suggest a significant idea.
That the Bears might be considering Khan for a bigger role than just GM. Perhaps even an heir apparent to team president Ted Phillips. Somebody that Hughes has said on multiple occasions will be retiring after 2023. Khan spent over a decade as the director of football and business administration for the Pittsburgh Steelers. An organization that has strong ties to the McCaskey family. Not to mention Khan has friends in the Bears front office. Then Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus added this nugget a half-hour later.
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If there is truth to the idea that Khan could come in for an EVP of Operations type role with a great talent evaluator like Morocco Brown working under him as de facto GM, that’s a slam dunk
We shall see https://t.co/CpHzZNZPhf
— Brad Spielberger, Esq. (@PFF_Brad) January 24, 2022
Brown is somebody else that has ties to Chicago, having worked for them from 2001 to 2007. What makes this so interesting is that both men happen to be interviewing with the Bears on the exact same day. Maybe it’s a coincidence. Then again maybe it isn’t. Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago poured even more gas on the fire when he revealed both are considered “very, very strong candidates” and it isn’t an accident they’re among the last to be interviewed.
Chicago Bears might actually have a good plan if this is true
It rests in the backgrounds of the two men. Khan is much more experienced when it comes to the general running of football operations and a franchise in general. He never actually came up the ranks as a true scout. More of a businessman with a football background. This is where the presence of somebody like Brown would make a ton of sense. He has over two decades of scouting experience including several as a player personnel director. On both the pro and college sides.
If Khan were brought in as an overseer of the Chicago Bears football operations, then Brown would make an excellent right-hand man. Somebody who could basically be in charge of constructing the roster. The same can be said of Poles too. Like Brown, he has a deep background in scouting. Either way, the Bears would be plucking two experienced executives from two of the most successful organizations in the AFC.
Men that have seen what it takes to build a consistent winner.
This would be a considerable change in approach by the Bears and not an unwelcome one. It’s been felt for a long time that the franchise sorely needed to expand and modernize its football operations. Have somebody that can hold the GM accountable and maybe expand underutilized departments such as analytics. Maybe this setup would do just that.
