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Let's Talk GM/Ryan Pace


soulman

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All the focus on Matt Nagy's plight and false reports combined with the five-game losing streak by the Bears to shift all spotlight away from one major problem.

Ryan Pace.

Since he became the general manager, Pace has hired two coaches and in seven years doesn't have a playoff win to show for it. They have two playoff berths and one season with a winning record in that time period.

If Nagy is in danger of losing his job, then how can Pace possibly keep his? 

Remember, they are joined at the hip from board chairman George McCaskey's description about why he liked their performance in January at the 2020 season-ending press conference.

"I think it's the way they collaborate," McCaskey said. "Matt's been involved in player personnel decisions since he arrived here. Of course Ryan has the final say on selection and roster decisions, but it's how well they work together. 

"Like I said they have vigorous discussions and we think that their collaboration will result in the right decisions for the Bears."

Apparently one half of this tag team has failed because the Bears are 4-7 and going nowhere despite their two-point win over the only winless team in football.

If Nagy finds he's out, there would appear no possible way Pace should then stay. 

Then again. ...

Pace could be retained for several reasons but it is sure going to take some backtracking from McCaskey and/or team CEO Ted Phillips about all of their collaboration malarkey.

Here are potential reasons the Bears could keep Pace if they do change head coaches.

6. Pace's Contract

The Bears refuse to reveal length of it and even pulled mention of how long he's under contract from their website. They were overly paranoid about the topic at their season-ending press conference, suggesting something is different. If Pace is locked in past next season, it would seem unlikely the McCaskeys would even want to part ways with him. If he's not, then this is no factor.

5. It's Easier

If the Bears fire just Nagy, they'll want Pace to hire the coach for them. If they fired both, then Phillips and McCaskey become responsible again for finding a GM and letting this person hire a coach. They lack the football expertise for doing either.  What they've done in the past is bring in consultant Ernie Accorsi. Now they'd have to go find another consultant. Accorsi is 80 years old and entirely out of the loop. The Lions hired him as a consultant for their GM position in 2016 and look how that turned out. The Giants used him as a consultant for the GM spot and it hasn't paid off yet. So they'd also have to figure out a new consultant. It's much more simple for them to just keep Pace and fire Nagy. In fact, McCaskey and Phillips wouldn't need to even show up at the postseason press conference. They could come take some bows after the new coaching hire by Pace when everything has blown over.

4. Only One Coach Hiring

No one who follows the Bears would ever perceive John Fox to be Pace's hiring. That one had the Ted Phillips-George McCaskey influence all over it because Pace had no experience as a young GM, and it seemed feasible to bring in a head coach with a vast amount of experience. If Pace had been left to his own devices, it's difficult to imagine he ever would have gone to the Bears and said he had to have Fox. So he has really only been given one coaching hire. Nagy did initially win the division and make the playoffs two of his first three years so even that hire can't be labeled a complete failure.

3. Khalil Mack Trade

While injuries do poor some water over the white-hot heat here, Mack overall has been a huge upgrade for the Bears defense and lifted them to a higher level they otherwise never could have attained. It was that defense and Mack who made the 2018 run to the division title possible. It cost two first-round draft picks but in no dimension of the draft multiverse is there a scenario where Pace uses those draft picks to find a player who could have had the impact Mack has had. That is, a least until they moved up to draft Justin Fields.

2. Recent Success

Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson and Darnell Mooney look like tremendous success stories from the 2020 draft. They're even getting production now from Trevis Gipson, who had to overcome obstacles such as no experience playing from an upright position. The 2021 draft has given them Fields, Khalil Herbert, Larry Borom and they could yet find out Teven Jenkins is a starter. Going back another year, Pace made a real find in David Montgomery with a class where his other picks haven't panned out at all. Duke Shelley might yet prove a decent nickel cornerback and had shown some signs of progress but by now they would have hoped to have seen more. Still, the last two drafts give indication Pace knows now how to work with a coach and determine the best players for quick development. Pace is always lauded for his middle-round picks and this could be overexaggerated. Eddie Jackson has struggled after bursting on the scene with two great seasons. Bilal Nichols is a starter but not a real impact player this year. They had another good safety in Adrian Amos and let him get away. Tarik Cohen was a success but that currently looks like past tense. Judged overall, Pace can't be labeled a total failure at bringing in talent. He's just not among the league's best at it.

1. Justin Fields

Pace found a way to bring the franchise a quarterback with tremendous natural ability when they really had no right to anticipate it. 

Nagy definitely played a role in identifying Fields as a player of immense talent, but in the end it was Pace who had the connections and made the maneuver to pull off the trade up past several teams who no doubt would have taken him, including the Minnesota Vikings. 

Some outsiders, namely Packers fans, will look at Fields and see numbers like a 69.0 passer rating or 58% completions and wonder what's the big deal. But the handful of incredible passes and runs the rookie has produced make it obvious he can be a tremendous success in the NFL if properly handled by the right coaching staff within a functioning offensive system. Sure, they lose the tag-team if one half of the collaboration is gone, but Pace then just collaborates with someone else.

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Just now, soulman said:

5. It's Easier

If the Bears fire just Nagy, they'll want Pace to hire the coach for them. If they fired both, then Phillips and McCaskey become responsible again for finding a GM and letting this person hire a coach. They lack the football expertise for doing either.  What they've done in the past is bring in consultant Ernie Accorsi. Now they'd have to go find another consultant. Accorsi is 80 years old and entirely out of the loop. The Lions hired him as a consultant for their GM position in 2016 and look how that turned out. The Giants used him as a consultant for the GM spot and it hasn't paid off yet. So they'd also have to figure out a new consultant. It's much more simple for them to just keep Pace and fire Nagy. In fact, McCaskey and Phillips wouldn't need to even show up at the postseason press conference. They could come take some bows after the new coaching hire by Pace when everything has blown over.

Everything, and I do mean everything else aside IMHO this is most likely to be the reason Ryan Pace will not be fired.  It's not that the other issues both positive and negative won't be considered but any negative ones won't make it to their reasoning for keeping Pace and will very quickly be swept under the rug.

We believe his contract was extended to match up with Nagy's which runs through 2022 but we don't know if it's been extended for an even longer period of time and we also don't know for certain whether a promotion to an even higher rank may happen once Teddy Bears begins to focus on the Arlington property in earnest.

I'm willing to agree, and have always agreed, that John Fox was actually the guy GMcC and Teddy Bears decided to pair with their rookie GM and because they know it too in their own minds Pace has only hired one HC so much like being given another shot at drafting a QB he gets another shot at selecting a new HC. Let's just hope he scores there as well.

If Nagy has been instrumental in selecting FA and draft picks and then has failed to either use them effectively or develop draft picks then all the more reason Pace should be spared at least some criticism for his personnel decisions.  If you tell me what you need to do your job effectively, I provide you with those tools, and you still fail to get the job done I'd fire your *** too.

So.....my take hasn't changed much.  Nagy is all but gone.  Pace will stay on and become instrumental in hiring a new HC.

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12 hours ago, soulman said:

2. Recent Success

Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson and Darnell Mooney look like tremendous success stories from the 2020 draft. They're even getting production now from Trevis Gipson, who had to overcome obstacles such as no experience playing from an upright position.

Kmet has been a tremendous success? I doubt even PFF would make that claim. Gene has a pair to make THAT claim.  lol

Dude is averaging like 3 catches and 30 yards per game. And all of zero TDs. He has improved as a blocker but you don't draft TEs who focus on blocking in the 2nd.

Kmet has been a mediocre at best pick - so far. Graham is a corpse and might have been better for the team as the starter, that's bad.

 

Fun fact,  Soul you and I technically have more rushing yards than he does too. 😁

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Yup.  Kmet is just now beginning to show he may be worth his draft status but he's surely lagging behind both Johnson and Mooney in terms of production yet he was the highest draft pick of the three.  I can accept that he's at least show far more potential than Adam Shaheen but he's no Kelce or Kittle so far.

Edited by soulman
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17 minutes ago, soulman said:

Yup.  Kmet is just now beginning to show he may be worth his draft status but he's surely lagging behind both Johnson and Mooney in terms of production yet he was the highest draft pick of the three.  I can accept that he's at least show far more potential than Adam Shaheen but he's no Kelce of Kittle so far.

Kmet is the better athlete but Shaheen at least made a few TDs while here.

Just do something well. That's all I'm asking. I'd never ask him to be an elite TE, he doesn't have the tools and never had that level of talent. But just be good at something! Hell I'd take Lewis from GB, at least he is a terrific blocker. Graham was grossly misused but at least is a redzone target.

God is punishing us for our FO being stupid enough to trade Greg Olsen for a 3rd.

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8 minutes ago, Sugashane said:

Kmet is the better athlete but Shaheen at least made a few TDs while here.

Just do something well. That's all I'm asking. I'd never ask him to be an elite TE, he doesn't have the tools and never had that level of talent. But just be good at something! Hell I'd take Lewis from GB, at least he is a terrific blocker. Graham was grossly misused but at least is a redzone target.

God is punishing us for our FO being stupid enough to trade Greg Olsen for a 3rd.

I'll give Kmet some leeway as far as scoring goes.  If they don't call his number he can't score.  Beside scoring is about the only way Pace has left to justify having kept Graham on the roster.

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1 hour ago, WindyCity said:

As someone who has been beating the fire Pace drum for a long time... I will believe he is out when he is actually fired.

I see George doing whatever mental gymnastics are required to keep him.

Me too, which is why if I had to put money on it right now I’d guess he gets “promoted” to a role where he isn’t involved with team DTD activities but he’s the go between for the family and the next GM instead of Phillips.

It’s not what I want, but it’s what I’m expecting. 

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19 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

Me too, which is why if I had to put money on it right now I’d guess he gets “promoted” to a role where he isn’t involved with team DTD activities but he’s the go between for the family and the next GM instead of Phillips.

It’s not what I want, but it’s what I’m expecting. 

I thought that thread about hiring Harbaugh had an interesting slant.

What was proposed is that the HC along with the head of player personnel actually run the team from that aspect with the GM completely out of the loop as a decision maker in those matters as it relates to FA and the draft.  Now, who deals with cap issues wasn't mentioned so that link in the chain needs to be in place but who deals with it besides the capologist which in the Bears case seems to be Joey Laine.

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24 minutes ago, soulman said:

I thought that thread about hiring Harbaugh had an interesting slant.

What was proposed is that the HC along with the head of player personnel actually run the team from that aspect with the GM completely out of the loop as a decision maker in those matters as it relates to FA and the draft.  Now, who deals with cap issues wasn't mentioned so that link in the chain needs to be in place but who deals with it besides the capologist which in the Bears case seems to be Joey Laine.

Pace needs to stay as far away from salary cap decisions as possible.

Edited by abstract_thought
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