Jerry Angelo is a complicated figure in Chicago Bears lore. He was the general manager of the organization for a decade. He got the team to a Super Bowl. Yet he also mismanaged the quarterback position, blundered several top draft choices, and never really fixed the issues on offense. However, one thing he got absolutely right was hiring his head coach. Lovie Smith was the guy he settled on in 2004, and that was probably the best decision the former GM ever made.
So it must be frustrating from his point of view to see Ryan Pace blow through two coaches in less time and yet the Bears are rumored to be considering the idea of giving him a third. Pace hasn’t won any playoff games. He hasn’t drafted nearly as many stars as Angelo did. There shouldn’t be any reason for him to get another crack at this. Especially since he has already proven inadequate at finding the right coach for the organization.
The Pace situation won’t be fully known for another 48 hours.
That aside, Bears fans and media are already speculating on the likely candidates that will end up with Matt Nagy’s job. Guys like Jim Harbaugh, Josh McDaniels, Leslie Frazier, and even Sean Payton have gotten tons of buzz. Angelo though had a warning for everybody. Don’t bother guessing the right coach based on their qualifications. That ultimately won’t be what lands the job in Chicago. It will be who delivers the best interview. He explained as much to Rich Cimini of ESPN.
“Candidates will pack their best suits and crisscross the country, meeting in mahogany conference rooms and private airports while trying to convince billionaire team owners that hiring them will be the greatest thing since their first shout-out in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.
Needy teams often will make franchise-altering decisions based on the outcome of these interviews, which “is like saying, ‘I’m going to marry the prettiest girl in the room,'” former Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said.
For the candidates: Win the interview, land the job of your dreams and get paid millions to coach football.”
It is true. Back in 2018, if the Bears had gone with their hire based on qualifications alone they would’ve settled on Josh McDaniels. The New England Patriots offensive coordinator had multiple Super Bowl rings and was widely seen as one of the brightest minds in the sport. Yet just days after interviewing him, they hired Nagy instead. That was because by all accounts the then-Chiefs offensive coordinator had smashed his own interview.
Jerry Angelo is speaking the honest truth in this
The next Bears head coach might not necessarily end up being the best man for the job. It will be the guy that can say the exact right things to George McCaskey. Sweet talk the team chairman into believing he can get the Chicago Bears to the promised land. It wasn’t just this way with coaches either. GMs can do it too. A big reason the Bears hired Pace back in 2015 was that he said the right things in his interview. Something Chris Ballard, the heavily-favored candidate in the eyes of most, did not.
This is a big reason so many fans are terrified by what is to come. They know the final decisions rest with McCaskey. His lack of football knowledge has handicapped him for a decade. That is why every head coach and GM hire to this point have been failures. Jerry Angelo can sympathize. It isn’t easy. Michael McCaskey had similar problems for several years before he finally somewhat got it right.
There is one key lesson in this.
Qualifications and track record matter. It is why going with Marc Trestman over Bruce Arians in 2013 was insane. George can’t go into these upcoming interviews and just choose the guy who says all the nice things. He has to stay focused on the most pivotal question. Is this the right man for the franchise? George Halas may not have been buddy-buddy with Mike Ditka, but the late Papa Bear knew one thing. Iron Mike was the right man for the job.
