George McCaskey had a rough start to the 2022 off-season. After firing GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy, he appeared in front of the media to discuss what came next. It was there he was asked about a story told by Olin Kreutz. The former Pro Bowl center explained that he was offered a job as an assistant to join the Bears coaching staff a few years ago. He would’ve been interested, except the offer was $15 an hour. The minimum wage in Chicago. He felt that was an insult and indicative of how McCaskey ran things.
The team chairman bristled at that and stated people would be wise to take what Kreutz says “with a pinch of salt.” He said the former Bear had a habit of not telling the whole story. In essence, McCaskey called the man a liar. Kreutz obviously didn’t like that and fired back on the radio that it was a personal attack indicative of McCaskey’s poor leadership. Fast forward six months and the animosity is stronger than ever.
Kreutz was asked about the incident during an interview on Sports Talk Chicago with Jon Zaghloul. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t hold back his feelings.
Olin Kreutz might be touchy on the subject, but he’s not wrong.
The Bears had one of their worst decades as a franchise since McCaskey took over in 2011. They’ve reached the playoffs only twice, failed to win either time and posted only two winning seasons. That isn’t exactly a fitting tribute to his grandfather’s legacy. Much of that is due to McCaskey’s decisions. He fired Jerry Angelo a year after taking over and allowed his GM replacement, Phil Emery, to fire Lovie Smith a year after that. He then signed off on the hiring of Marc Trestman over Bruce Arians.
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When that blew up in his face, he was casually manipulated into hiring Ryan Pace and John Fox. When that flopped, they shifted to Matt Nagy. Looking back, it is amazing how McCaskey hired five men so grossly inadequate at their jobs. Good leaders hire the right people to bring their organization success. Olin Kreutz understands that fundamental truth. That makes it easier to understand why he was so affronted when McCaskey called him out. In his mind, the man hadn’t earned the right.
It is unfortunate things reached such a point. Kreutz doesn’t seem interested in mending fences until he gets an apology. He may have to wait a long time.
