So remember a couple of days ago when Mike Florio of NBC Sports suggested the possibility that something could be done about Chicago Bears team president Ted Phillips? The timing of the statement was rather curious. It led one to wonder if the longtime league insider might’ve been hearing some rumblings from Halas Hall. Then again there have been false alarms where Phillips is concerned before.
Now that smoke is getting thicker than ever. In an outstanding deep-dive piece by Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, he provided loads of inside information on what’s happening inside the Bears’ building. Especially with the three men at the top in Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace, and Phillips. It seems that several people close to the team are hearing that the long-time team president is prepared to step away from football decisions moving forward.
“And Phillips? The longtime president and CEO finally could be ready for revised responsibilities. According to multiple sources connected to the team, Phillips has privately discussed distancing himself from football operations in recent months, making a frank acknowledgment to some confidants that the organization would benefit from a leader with greater football aptitude to oversee those in charge of the on-field product.”
This is something Bears fans have pined for going back over a decade.
They’ve felt for a long time that Phillips is a big part of the team’s system issues at being able to field a consistently competitive roster. He took the job in 1999. Since then the organization has made the playoffs five times with just three playoff wins. His head coaching hires were mostly bad outside of Lovie Smith. His GM choices weren’t much better. Jerry Angelo, Phil Emery, and Ryan Pace have all made huge mistakes that set the franchise back.
This shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Phillips came into the organization with a background in accounting. So for them to give him direct input on football decisions was always ill-advised. He had no way of understanding how to identify the right people to lead. It always seemed to come down to choosing guys he liked personally. Guys who could look good in front of the cameras and came across as personable.
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This is how you choose somebody like Trestman over Bruce Arians. When you fear a strong personality, you’re not going to win many games in the NFL.
Ted Phillips is living proof the McCaskeys are out of their depth
Despite being a family steeped in so much football tradition, the reality has never escaped one simple fact. Nobody in that family has actually played, coached, or scouted the game at any meaningful level. They’re fans. That’s it. While this isn’t a bad thing, it also proves something inescapable. Their full grasp of what it takes to construct a consistently successful organization is limited.
It started by not surrounding themselves with enough football people. They’ve leaned too heavily on men who are more business-oriented. Ted Phillips is the shining beacon of this. After George Halas died, the focus of the organization seemed to shift from winning football games at any cost to making money. That is how guys like Phillips gain power. While nobody can dispute he’s done a great job at this, it has come at a cost.
Three decades of futility while their biggest rival up north thrives.
Fans are tired of it. They want Phillips gone. They want a true overhaul of the entire power structure. More football people focused on one thing. Winning. Expand football operations. Get as many sharp minds in that building as you can. It’s a $4 billion organization. They can afford it. They may finally have a quarterback. Now find the right people to cultivate him.