As the losing for the Chicago Bears continues, the rage of fans has begun to swallow up the organization like a spreading forest fire. It started with the assistant coaches, mostly offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains as his high school offensive play calling. Then it picked up intensity on head coach John Fox, a man many felt should never have gotten a third year to begin with. Now those flames are beginning to nip at the heels of GM Ryan Pace.
To the calm thinkers that’s somewhat surprising. After all Pace has done a reasonably solid job rebuilding what was an old and depleted roster over the past three years. Has he made mistakes? Sure but that’s not uncommon for a young GM still learning on the job. All things considered he’s done well. It’s not his fault his first choice for a head coach turned out to be such a flop.
That’s the thing though. Since the end of last season a smoldering rumor has persisted. One that paints a rather unfavorable picture of Bears ownership, particularly Chairman George McCaskey. A man who insisted Pace would have complete autonomy of football operations. If that were true, then one could argue the hiring of Fox wouldn’t have happened.
Bears owner and Ernie Accorsi pressed Fox on Ryan Pace in 2015
Back in 2015 Pace was made the youngest general manager in the NFL. Of course the first job of every GM is determining who his head coach will be. Since Marc Trestman had been fired, the slot needed filling. One would think Pace had control of that decision. Turns out he almost did, but that changed when Fox became available.
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According to a number of local media sources, most recently Adam Hoge of WGN, McCaskey insisted on Fox being the choice. He was spurred by Ernie Accorsi, a former GM who was a friend and colleague of the Bears owner who’d been hired as an adviser. He had a reason to press for Fox since the two had worked together for years in New York.
“Just as important, it will allow Pace to get a head start on a thorough head coaching search that Chairman George McCaskey and President Ted Phillips will ideally allow him to conduct on his own, unlike when Pace was hired in 2015 and “advisor” Ernie Accorsi strongly pushed Fox on the organization.
The idea was that a young GM like Pace could use a veteran presence like Fox to maintain order as the roster was purged and rebuilt. Is it true though? Some remain skeptical, believing it’s a rumor being passed off as an excuse for Pace. The thing is it continues to gain credence.
Greg Gabriel, a columnist for Pro Football Weekly, also claims the Fox hire was not Pace’s decision. This is a big revelation because Gabriel was a scout in the Bears front office for years. Not only that, he also has connections to Fox and Accorsi having worked with them in New York.
If Fox gets let go, Ryan Pace gets a pass on the hire. That was a Ernie Accorsi, George McCaskey hire
— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) November 27, 2017
Both jobs. Heavily involved in the interview process. Basically Pace was told that was the coach
— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) November 27, 2017
Rookie GM. Ernie had extensive experience with Fox. He was DC there for 5 years ( I was there at same time). We went to a SB because of John’s D
— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) November 27, 2017
Pace and Fox relationship never had a chance
In other words Pace was forced to work with a head coach that wasn’t his choice. Anybody who understands the NFL knows this. When a GM and head coach aren’t in perfect harmony, it inevitably leads to friction. That friction then leads to miscommunication and miscommunication leads to losing. This is basically the Bears’ situation in a nutshell.
Pace was a good soldier and didn’t raise a fuss over it. He did as his bosses requested. He tried to make it work. It hasn’t. That would explain why he purposely kept Fox out of the loop on things like drafting Mitch Trubisky back in April. If he’s not allowed to fire the head coach, then he’s going to position his team for when he finally gets that green light.
After the 31-3 disaster in Philadelphia, it feels like that moment is almost at hand.
