The Chicago Bears can afford to be ambitious as an organization. They’re the Chicago Bears after all. A charter franchise of professional football. A $4 billion organization in the third-largest media market in the United States. They have every right to be aggressive in their search for a possible big fish on the head coaching market. Even somebody that might currently be employed by another organization.
That is the present rumor surrounding the team. Once Matt Nagy is out of the picture, it is expected the Bears will try to see if they can land a big name on the coaching market. That includes established fixtures like Sean Payton, Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, and Jim Harbaugh. All of whom are currently under contract with other teams. As always, such a move starts with money. George McCaskey will have to offer lots of it to at least get a foot in the door.
However, it likely won’t be enough.
Such moves come down to incentives. Somebody like a Payton or Harbaugh have pretty good situations with their respective spots. They’d need a good reason to leave. Coaching in Chicago is nice. So would be the prospect of getting their hands on a talented QB like Justin Fields. Even then it might not be enough though. What else could be offered? This is where it gets tricky.
One benefit most coaches in the NFL don’t enjoy but tend to covet more than anything is final say over the roster. The traditional layout of NFL teams is simple. The GMs draft/sign the talent and the coaches develop it. Some coaches aren’t wild about that system because there can often be disagreements between themselves and said GMs. Bill Parcells had a poignant line about it years ago.
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Chicago Bears may have to consider this approach
Former GM Jerry Angelo even said at one point that head coach/GM relationships are even tougher than marriages. They’re destined to fail at some point. That is because it’s almost impossible for two men to see things the exact same way from a roster-building perspective. One reason teams are hesitant to give coaches this level of power is because it involves so many responsibilities. A man only has so much time to do both jobs.
Not to mention the fact a good coach doesn’t always equate to a good scout. That doesn’t stop teams from taking this approach. Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll are two such examples. They have control of their respective rosters in New England and Seattle. The same goes for Andy Reid in Kansas City. Others who got this honor over the years include Parcells, Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, Jimmy Johnson, Butch Davis, and Nick Saban. All to varying degrees of success.
The Bears have done this only once in their franchise history.
That came in 1993 when they made Dave Wannstedt both the head coach and de facto GM. A dual-title he’d hold for only one year. After that, Rod Graves took full control of the roster until he was relieved in 1997. It isn’t clear why Wannstedt lost his power so quickly. The 1993 draft wasn’t stellar but it wasn’t terrible. First round pick Curtis Conway became a solid wide receiver, 4th round pick Todd Perry started 97 games for them, and other 4th rounder Albert Fontenot became a decent rotational defensive lineman.
Perhaps the McCaskeys weren’t comfortable giving a coach that much power. Not after what they had to deal with in the ’80s with Mike Ditka. Times have changed though. If the family wants to bring that big fish to Chicago, they might have to alter their power structure in a way nobody expects. By taking ultimate power away from the GM.
