One of the more interesting aspects of the Chicago Bears draft approach over the past decade or longer is how little actual turnover they’ve had in their scouting department. Several faces there have been around for many years. National scout Jeff Shiver has served 34 years. Breck Ackley, Francis St. Paul, and David Williams have roots going back to the arrival of Phil Emery. This goes to show how little Ryan Pace actually changed when he took over in 2015. It would explain why the Bears have continued to struggle to find blue-chip talent. It doesn’t sound like Ryan Poles plans to get caught in the same trap.
The new Bears GM already found his first lieutenant, prying director of player personnel Ian Cunningham away from the Philadelphia Eagles. A nice little counterpunch to them stealing Joe Douglas back in 2016. Now the next order of business is restructuring the rest of the front office and scouting department. By the sound of things, those changes figure to run deep. That includes a likely purging of the scouting department. Something Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog indicated may happen. With the exception of three notable names.
Ryan Poles is not looking to clean house entirely when it comes to personnel department. Told he will try to keep Champ Kelly, Mark Sadowski and possibly Sam Summerville. But each will have offers around the league.
None of Matt Nagy’s coaches are expected to be retained.
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 30, 2022
This would be a significant development.
Kelly is the Bears’ assistant director of pro personnel and one of the most beloved and respected members of their front office. Sadowski has been with the organization for years as a scout and now director of college scouting. He has deep ties to the McCaskey family but is also respected for his talent evaluation. Summerville was Chicago’s Southeast regional scout for years until he was promoted to national scout this past season. Many view him as a rising star. So it shouldn’t be a surprise Poles is keen on trying to keep them.
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This offers an indication of just how sharp the new GM is. It is already becoming apparent he has a keen eye not just for on-field talent but also other evaluators. Cunningham is widely admired in the scouting community. A big reason that teams like Philadelphia and Baltimore employed him. Now to recognize the value of Kelly, Sadowski, and Summerville as well sends a great message about where this could be headed.
Ryan Poles will put his connections to the test
Cunningham was only the opening salvo. He has at least three or four more prominent front office positions to fill over the coming days. There is also a strong belief that Poles will do something no previous GM has in Chicago. Expand their analytics department. Analytics is becoming a strong part of the new wave in player evaluation across the NFL. Under Pace, the Bears only had one analytics specialist. That figures to change under this new regime.
This is where Ryan Poles working under three different GMs during his long stint in Kansas City can be so valuable. It means he’ll have ties to several different pools of scouting talent. Those that have worked with Scott Pioli. Those that have worked with John Dorsey and of course those that have worked with Brett Veach. The Bears GM seems to have a clear idea of how he wants this organization to function, so it will be fascinating to see who he recruits.
Keeping Kelly, Sadowski, and Summerville would be major victories.
Not easy though. While Sadowski and Summerville might be inclined to stay, the same can’t be said for Kelly. He has several admirers around the NFL, having earned GM interviews for the past two years. It isn’t hard to imagine a team offering him a prominent position like assistant GM elsewhere. If Chicago wants to keep him, it may have to come with some sort of promotion. Poles will have to play this carefully.
