They say in professional wrestling that the business is cyclical. It goes through peaks and valleys and seems to always feature certain boom periods headlined by unforgettable stars. In a twisted way, the Chicago Bears have been cyclical too. Not so much in terms of boom periods but in who they’ve been hiring to run their organization for the past three-plus decades. When looking back and examining the men in charge, it’s actually quite alarming how similar some of these guys are. Take Ryan Pace for example.
He was supposed to be the breath of fresh air this organization has sought for such a long time. Somebody similar to Jim Finks back in the 1970s. A guy meant to modernize football operations and breath new life into everybody. Instead, he is pretty much a recycled version of another top executive they’ve had before. His name was Mark Hatley.
For those who don’t remember, he was the Bears’ de facto GM from 1997 to 2000. When going back and looking at his tenure with the team in detail? One starts to see some shocking similarities between him and Pace. Enough to reinforce why the call for organizational restructuring is so vital this time around.
Mark Hatley:
- Badly mishandled several top draft choices
- Misfired at quarterback
- Hired a bad head coach
- Known for mid-to-late round hits
- Had one really good draft
During his four-year stint in charge, Hatley had seven picks in the 1st or 2nd round. Only two of them last more than four seasons with the team. The rest were middling role players or outright busts like John Allred, Curtis Enis, and Russell Davis. The crème de la crap though was his big swing at quarterback when he selected Cade McNown 12th overall in 1999. The UCLA product lasted two seasons in Chicago before he was traded out of town. Now that is a bust. To be fair he had Dick Jauron as his head coach, so that didn’t do him any favors.
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That said, Hatley’s scouting background served him well at times. He found several really good players between the 3rd and 6th rounds. Guys like Olin Kreutz, Marcus Robinson, Marty Booker, Patrick Mannelly, Rosevelt Colvin, and Jerry Azumah. The bitter irony is his last draft was easily his best as he found Brian Urlacher and Mike Brown in 2000 with his first two picks. A Hall of Fame linebacker and an All-Pro safety. Too little, too late.
Ryan Pace:
- Badly mishandled several top draft choices
- Misfired at quarterback
- Hired 2 bad head coaches
- Known for mid-to-late round hits
- Had one really good draft
Pace too struggled with high draft choices during his early years with the team. Of the six 1st or 2nd round picks he made between 2015 and 2017, four ended up being busts or disappointed. Kevin White, Leonard Floyd, and Adam Shaheen for examples. Don’t forget Anthony Miller in 2018. Then of course is the quarterback blunder, selecting Mitch Trubisky 2nd overall with guys like Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson still on the board. All of this while John Fox and Matt Nagy were getting the nod as head coach.
The one thing people keep clinging to with Ryan Pace? His later round magic. Adrian Amos, Jordan Howard, Eddie Jackson, Tarik Cohen, Bilal Nichols, David Montgomery, and Darnell Mooney. All were found in the 3rd round or later. Combine this with his rock solid 2018 draft that landed Roquan Smith and James Daniels, both of whom are headed for contract extensions? Those are his strongest selling points. Like Hatley, they aren’t strong enough.
Hatley never had a winning season. Pace has had one. At the end of the day, this is what should matter most. Neither man succeeded in finding the necessary pieces to build a winner. That is who the Bears need.
