Time To Put A Football Person In Charge Of Football George.

[soulman]

 

Pompei: It’s long past time for the Bears to put a football person in charge of football

By Dan Pompei Nov 25, 2021 108

A franchise of tradition is what the Bears are.

Family ownership. “Bear Down, Chicago Bears.” The Monsters of the Midway nickname. A running game that dominates. The best middle linebackers in the NFL. A border war with the team from the north. The eternal quarterback search.

And then there is the tradition that has overshadowed all the others in recent years: offseason change.

So here we are again, with the Bears pondering an offseason of change. As it was in 2018. As it was in 2015. As it was in 2013. As it was in 2012. What is almost assuredly about to happen will make it five offseason changes in 11 years.

The regrettable past likely will flow into a doomed future unless the Bears make a structural change in their front office. Replacing general manager Ryan Pace and/or head coach Matt Nagy may satisfy hostile fans but may not make the Bears a more auspicious organization.

What the Bears need is a president of football operations in charge of hiring, firing and supervising the general manager and the head coach. The roles of the general manager and the coach don’t have to change much — only the person they report to.

The president of football operations should be what they call “a football person.” That means he has spent his life’s work concerning himself with the players and plays that decide outcomes. Better if he was one of those players before becoming someone who oversaw them.

It is not a novel concept that a football person should be in charge of football. But it has not been that way at Halas Hall for close to 40 years.

The Bears did have a football person in charge of football for their first 54 years, as founder/owner George Halas made all of the calls. Then he empowered his son Mugs Halas, who hired Jim Finks, a football person, in 1974.

Finks’ title was executive vice president, general manager and chief operating officer, which made him the de facto president of football operations. Finks is remembered for drafting future Hall of Fame players Walter Payton, Dan Hampton, Mike Singletary, Jimbo Covert and Richard Dent. But he was much more than a general manager.

He returned the Bears to respectability after the worse stretch in team history from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. Finks hired two head coaches, Jack Pardee and Neill Armstrong. He also changed the team headquarters, moved their training camp and negotiated a better radio deal with WGN. He even was given stock in the franchise.

At the time, football teams were mom-and-pop operations that didn’t need as many organizational layers as they do today. One person could handle overseeing operations as well as acquiring players. That’s much more difficult to do now.

Two years after Mugs died of a heart attack at 54 in 1979, his father usurped Finks’ power and hired Mike Ditka as head coach. Little known fact: Halas’ daughter, Virginia McCaskey, questioned her father for undercutting Finks. She wanted Finks to remain in power.

Without the authority he was promised, Finks resigned after the 1983 draft. The Bears have not had a “football person” overseeing all aspects of football since.

The three who have been in charge of hiring and firing those who acquire and coach players have been Michael McCaskey, George McCaskey and Ted Phillips. Michael was more or less running things for 28 years starting in 1983. Since the 1990s, Phillips has had the most influential voice in the organization of anyone not named McCaskey. George took over from Michael in 2011.

Instead of firing Jerry Angelo as general manager in 2012, George should have made him president of football operations. With a 95-81 record and the team’s only Super Bowl appearance in 37 years, Angelo was the most successful front-office person in team history after Halas and Finks. With Angelo as president of football operations, Chris Ballard would have been hired as general manager. The organization would have benefited from continuity, and the Bears undoubtedly would have had much more success over the last decade than they have.

Phillips has been a convenient target of critics. The presence of Phillips is not the problem. Phillips plays a valuable role in the organization, overseeing all business aspects of the franchise. He is arguably more valuable than he ever has been, given the quest for a new stadium.

The problem is the lack of presence of a football person.

A football person who is qualified for this kind of job and willing to take it on might not be easy to find. The Bears need someone who has had a significant degree of success in the football business and has firsthand knowledge of the people and challenges in the game today.

Here are four people who are worth considering for the role.

 

Trace Armstrong (Mark Von Holden / Getty Images for ESPN)

• Trace Armstrong, partner and president of coaches and executives division, Athletes First

He is not a traditional candidate because he has not held a front-office position. But nobody knows the NFL landscape, and NFL executives and coaches, any better.

Armstrong represents numerous NFL head coaches, assistant coaches and executives, as well as college coaches. Among his clients are Packers coach Matt LaFleur, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, Panthers coach Matt Rhule, Penn State coach James Franklin and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley. Armstrong also has a bead on the Bears’ inner-workings from serving as the agent for Nagy and some of his assistants.

Armstrong also has a deep understanding of what being a Chicago Bear means — that is significant. He played for them for six seasons after being selected 12th in the 1989 draft. Don Pierson and I ranked him the 98th greatest Bear in team history for the “Chicago Bears Centennial Scrapbook.”

After playing for Super Bowl-winning head coaches Ditka, Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson and Jon Gruden, Armstrong can tell you what a great coach looks like. He also was the president of the NFLPA for eight years and understands the political side of the game.

 

Tony Dungy (Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)

• Tony Dungy, studio analyst, NBC Sports

He is a Hall of Fame coach and the coach responsible for the Bears losing Super Bowl XLI. Winning that game for the Colts made Dungy the first African American head coach to preside over a Super Bowl winner. Dungy is one of only three people to win a Super Bowl as a player and a coach.

Many young coaches, especially African American coaches, look to him for guidance. He was one of Smith’s mentors, and the McCaskeys have great respect for Smith.

With a calm, rational approach, Dungy is highly respected in NFL circles. He is a best-selling author of leadership books, including “The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently.”

 

Ozzie Newsome (Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

• Ozzie Newsome, executive vice president, Ravens

In addition to being a Hall of Fame tight end, Newsome is one of the most accomplished general managers in league history. He drafted 25 players who went to the Pro Bowl, including Hall of Famers Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden and Ed Reed. The NFL’s first African American general manager, Newsome led two teams to Super Bowl victories. He was a longtime member of the NFL’s competition committee.

Known for his wisdom, Newsome, 65, stepped down as general manager in 2019 and is primarily a talent evaluator these days. Whether he would welcome the responsibilities of a president of football operations is unknown.

 

Rick Smith (Troy Taormina / USA Today)

• Rick Smith, former executive vice president of football operations, Houston Texans

At one point, he was the NFL’s youngest general manager at age 36. Eventually, Smith was given responsibility for all aspects of football operations. When he was in charge of the Texans, his draft picks included J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins and Deshaun Watson, whom he says he ranked ahead of Mitch Trubisky.

Smith took a leave of absence in 2017 to be with his wife, Tiffany, while she was being treated for breast cancer. While he was on leave, power shifted in the Texans organization, and Smith was let go. Since Tiffany died in 2019, Smith dedicated himself to raising their three children.

A natural leader, Smith has many ideas on establishing culture.

Finks had ideas back in the day, too.

Ed McCaskey once asked Finks what he should be doing.

Finks replied, “You’re an owner, Ed. Own.”

It is well past the time for George McCaskey to own, Phillips to concentrate on the business side of the Bears and for a president of football operations to make the primary decisions that determine what happens on Sundays.

That appears the only way for the organization to return to another tradition, one that ended in the 1940s: contending for a championship every year.

[soulman]

20 minutes ago, soulman said:

What the Bears need is a president of football operations in charge of hiring, firing and supervising the general manager and the head coach. The roles of the general manager and the coach don’t have to change much — only the person they report to.

The president of football operations should be what they call “a football person.” That means he has spent his life’s work concerning himself with the players and plays that decide outcomes. Better if he was one of those players before becoming someone who oversaw them.

It is not a novel concept that a football person should be in charge of football. But it has not been that way at Halas Hall for close to 40 years.

Dan Pompei is either my soul brother or he's been reading my posts on this for the past 7 years or so.  Following the Emery/Trestman debacle, Emery having been hired by Phillips and GMcC because he was a former Bears scout and a crony, it was clear to me and a whole lot of others that the Bears needed new decision makers at the very top.  We didn't get them and we're still wandering in the forest of losers.

^^^^ This is the Bears under Phillips and GMcC.

They know where they would like to be but they have no idea how to get there so they keep going around in circles getting nowhere.

I think any one of the above would be a good choice for an Exec VP of Football Ops position with the Bears.

Newsome is probably least likely to be available followed by Dungy.  He has a sweet deal working for the networks but he's a guy the McCaskey Family respects so at least he's one whom they should reach out to.  I love the idea of hiring a guy like Trace Armstrong his having been a Bear player with a deeper understanding of Bears traditions but is he affordable?

So there's Rick Smith whom some of you have mentioned as a replacement for Pace.  How 'bout hiring him to oversee Pace and help Pace do his job better.  GMcC talked about collaboration.  Maybe this is where that collaboration should begin and not between a HC and his boss who is the GM.  It can't be easy for Pace to face what he is now and the firing of Matt Nagy.

Edited November 26, 2021 by soulman

[Madmike90]

The one I always couldn't understand us not brining in was Gary Fencik...from Chicago...former Bear...Superbowl Champ...excellent business mind...why would you not consider him for a position like president?...

Dungy would be the dream for me...flat out just think he is an awesome man.

[soulman]

26 minutes ago, Madmike90 said:

The one I always couldn't understand us not brining in was Gary Fencik...from Chicago...former Bear...Superbowl Champ...excellent business mind...why would you not consider him for a position like president?...

Dungy would be the dream for me...flat out just think he is an awesome man.

Fencik is another guy I've mentioned in previous years.  I suspect he's probably making more money on his own than the Bears would be willing to pay.  That may well be the issue with guys like Armstrong and Dungy as well.  This is what I mean when I say I doubt the Bears can hire the best.  Not if the McCaskeys aren't willing to step aside and simply "own".

Edited November 26, 2021 by soulman

[Sugashane]

6 hours ago, Madmike90 said:

The one I always couldn't understand us not brining in was Gary Fencik...from Chicago...former Bear...Superbowl Champ...excellent business mind...why would you not consider him for a position like president?...

Dungy would be the dream for me...flat out just think he is an awesome man.

Put him and Rick Smith on the VP and GM spots respectively. 

Or Peyton Manning at VP over Tony Dungy at GM. 

 

I'd be absolutely ecstatic for either. 

[JAF-N72EX]

16 hours ago, soulman said:

Ed McCaskey once asked Finks what he should be doing.

Finks replied, “You’re an owner, Ed. Own.”

It is well past the time for George McCaskey to own, Phillips to concentrate on the business side of the Bears and for a president of football operations to make the primary decisions that determine what happens on Sundays.

See. I keep on talking about the lack of infrastructure at HH over the last several decades and this quote says it all. I'm just glad I'm not the only one who sees it.

Let these guys do the jobs they were hired to do and leave them be without any other interference. Let them sink or swim on their own.

To expand on the quote from the article; The owner should owner. The president should president. The GM should GM. The HC should HC. The OC should OC. The DC should DC..........etc,etc,etc....all the way down the line.

Stop with all of this micromanaging BS where everyone thinks they can do the next mans job better than the ones they hired to do it.

[soulman]

1 hour ago, JAF-N72EX said:

See. I keep on talking about the lack of infrastructure at HH over the last several decades and this quote says it all. I'm just glad I'm not the only one who sees it.

Let these guys do the jobs they were hired to do and leave them be without any other interference. Let them sink or swim on their own.

To expand on the quote from the article; The owner should owner. The president should president. The GM should GM. The HC should HC. The OC should OC. The DC should DC..........etc,etc,etc....all the way down the line.

Stop with all of this micromanaging BS where everyone thinks they can do the next mans job better than the ones they hired to do it.

As that quote from Jim Finks indicates this has always been an issue with the McCaskeys from the get go.

Finks had left over the hiring of Ditka but by then Jerry Vainisi had a good handle on the team and could easily have carried on.  But no.  Mikey had to get involved as some kind of pseudo GM so he fired Vainisi and the descent into McCaskey hell began.  Ditka was so pissed he called Mikey out over it in public.  The McCaskeys never knew that they were doing but have always believed they needed to be doing something.

They're like rabbits and they've been over populating the board of directors and executive staff ever since they got their hands on the team.  Since GSH died there has never been a time when a McCaskey has not been either Team President, COB, or had a significant management role somewhere in the Bears organization and it shows.  It's like they believe genetics alone was all that was needed to make them "football people".

The problem is there's quite obviously far more of the McCaskey gene content there than Halas genes.