With less than two weeks before the 2021 Chicago Bears’ season is over, many are still wondering if head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Pace will be fired. Although Nagy is likely to be fired, Pace’s job security is still unknown as there are reasons for firing and retaining the general manager. Given new information regarding the 2015 Bears’ coaching search, there is additional evidence why their general manager should be kept and allowed to hire the next head coach for Chicago.

Ownership Not Allowing Pace To Hire His Initial Candidate Matters

When the Bears hired Pace in January 2015 to replace Phil Emery, the new general manager hired John Fox as the team’s head coach to replace Marc Trestman. Earlier this week, Hub Arkush on 670 The Score stated that during the head coaching search in 2015, Pace had a verbal agreement with Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, but George McCaskey and Ted Phillips talked Pace out of it. The decision was costly as Fox would win just 14 games in three seasons as Chicago’s head coach, while Quinn would lead the Falcons to two playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl.

When Ryan Pace got hired to be the general manager of the Chicago Bears, he already had a verbal understanding with Dan Quinn that he was going to be the Bears head coach.

George McCaskey and Ted Phillips talked Pace into hiring John Fox.

(Via @Hub_Arkush on 670 The Score)

— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) December 28, 2021

Unfortunately, McCaskey and Phillips talked Pace out of the decision as Quinn was a proven coordinator for the Seahawks during their two Super Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014. Although the Super Bowl success was an asset for the defensive coordinator, it was also a weakness as waiting to hire the coordinator until after Super Bowl 49 was the reason why Chicago chose to go with Fox. Bears’ ownership was also reluctant to hire a first-time head coach compared to hiring a seasoned head coach following the Trestman debacle.

Hiring Quinn would have also led to the Bears having Kyle Shanahan as their offensive coordinator as he served under Quinn as the Falcons play-caller for two seasons. Shanahan is considered one of the best offensive minds in the league currently and would have been a perfect coordinator for former Bears starting quarterback Jay Cutler, who was the team’s starting quarterback in 2015 and 2016. Although Chicago had Adam Gase as their offensive coordinator in 2015, he was hired by the Dolphins as their head coach in 2016, which resulted in the Bears promoting Dowell Loggains to offensive coordinator.

One last point: In 2015, the Falcons hired Dan Quinn, who hired Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan left after two years, and the offense fell apart. If the Falcons had just hired Shanahan in the first place, he'd still be the team's head coach.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 14, 2021

If Pace couldn’t select his original choice for the head coach position back in 2015, the McCaskey family owes it to their general manager, given what unfolded. The Bears hired the general manager to rebuild the franchise following the mistakes made by Emery and Trestman. Ownership didn’t allow Pace to hire the candidate that he felt would make the best head coach for Chicago, a candidate that led the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl after two seasons.

Ryan Pace Wasn’t Wrong With The Hiring Process That Resulted In Matt Nagy

When Pace made his first head coaching hire without oversight, he hired Nagy, the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. The current Bears head coach was seen as the next great offensive mind given his brief success as the Chiefs offensive coordinator. Furthermore, Nagy’s resume was added by his success overseeing quarterback Alex Smith’s Pro Bowl success and by the success of former Chiefs’ coordinator Doug Pederson.

Pace believed Nagy was the best coach to oversee the growth of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, and with everything seen from Nagy, it appeared that the Bears had hired the right coach. In 2018, the Bears would win 12 games and clinch their first NFC North Division title in eight years. Nagy would be named NFL Coach of the Year, Pace was named Sporting News’ Executive of the Year, and Trubisky made the Pro Bowl.

As I'm employed by the NFL, I don't have an AP vote. My ballot if I did:

OROY: Baker Mayfield
DROY: Darius Leonard
Coach of the Year: Matt Nagy
Defensive Player of the Year: Aaron Donald
Executive of the Year: Ryan Pace
MVP: Patrick Mahomes

What's yours ? @gmfb

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) January 3, 2019

Although 2018 was a massive success, the rest of Nagy’s tenure with Chicago has steadily declined. The Bears had back-to-back .500 seasons and one playoff appearance before this season. Many believe Pace got the head coaching hire wrong in 2018, but given the success of 2018, there was no way of knowing that the Bears would regress instead of progress in the following seasons. Nagy’s most significant failures have been his offensive play-calling struggles and his stubbornness in correcting his mistakes or willingness to new solutions.

Pace had the right idea with Nagy as he was looking to hire the best offensive mind to develop Trubisky. Chicago’s general manager was trying to follow the success that the Los Angeles Rams had in hiring Sean McVay to develop Jared Goff. Nagy checked the desired traits Pace was seeking during the 2018 coaching search, but no one could have known that the coach would struggle following 2018.

Will "Swaggy Nagy" be the next "McBae"?@KyleBrandt sees a lot of similarities between 2017 Coach of the Year @RamsNFL HC Sean McVay and @ChicagoBears new HC Matt Nagy. pic.twitter.com/iUKR9bB6cI

— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) June 4, 2018

If the Bears chose to retain Pace following next Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, there should be a high belief that the general manager could make a successful choice for a new head coach. Had the McCaskey and Phillips enabled their general manager to hire Quinn in 2015, they could have had back-to-back playoff head coaches. By proving the ability to hire the correct head coaching candidate for Chicago, Pace should be allowed to make one more head coaching hire for the Chicago Bears.