After watching the big press conference following the firing of head coach Matt Eberflus, people had assumptions. It felt like the power dynamic in Halas Hall had shifted. Team president Kevin Warren talked by far the most during the 20 minutes in front of cameras, while GM Ryan Poles looked reserved and downtrodden. Many took it as an indication that he’d just had his power drastically reduced. Warren was the one calling the shots now, despite the executive insisting Poles still had the final say on the upcoming coaching search.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune dropped a big update on that front. It turns out those assumptions were accurate. The Bears have already started contacting people to vet top coaching candidates. One thing has been made clear throughout the early process. Warren is the one calling the shots
Multiple sources indicate the Bears already have started talking to people behind the scenes, laying the groundwork for future discussions with candidates they want to be part of the process…
…Warren made it clear that, at least behind the scenes, he’ll be leading the charge to hire the next coach. Poles will be the point man in the operation, but Warren has all the juice and he made sure everyone is aware.
This isn’t a surprise. Or at least it shouldn’t be. Warren didn’t leave his job as Big Ten commissioner to take a back seat behind Poles in Chicago. He was hired to run this franchise. A lot of people don’t like that. They consider him nothing more than a lawyer trying to act like he knows how to run a sports franchise. Well, like it or not, he at least has far more experience than Ted Phillips did when he took over in 1999.
Kevin Warren doesn’t care about optics at this point.
He is trying to fix the mess that this organization has been stuck in for 40 years. If that means he has to throw his weight around and shake things up, so be it. There is no telling if it will work or not, but it’s better than going with the same routine. Don’t forget that both Eberflus and Poles were McCaskey hires. Warren had no say in either of them. One can honestly say he was more patient with them than other presidents might’ve been, choosing to let them try to build on their improvement from last season.
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It hasn’t happened.
Now Kevin Warren is done sitting on the sidelines. This will be his show. You may not like it, but he doesn’t care. It sounds like he intends to take a big swing this off-season, whatever that ends up being. The McCaskeys granted him that power. Whether Poles wants to help or stay out of the way is his decision. This is the course. At least the Bears have one. They have to trust that Warren will speak to the right people who can lead him to become the coach this organization desperately needs.
