The Chicago Bears’ media and fan base continued to voice their displeasure with the franchise following Wednesday’s press conference confirming that general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy being retained for one more season. Although team chairman George McCaskey’s decision is highly controversial, there is reasoning as to why the team chose to keep Pace for at least one more season.

Pace Has Brought Consistency To A Franchise That Didn’t Have

When the Bears hired Pace in 2015, he undertook the responsibility of completely rebuilding a team that was in disarray. The year prior, the team was a national embarrassment as head coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery made terrible decisions both on the field and in the front office. Trestman lost control of the locker room while Emery failed to put together quality draft classes and could not find low-level players to fill out the roster.

Between the fruitless draft classes and choosing Trestman over Arians, that Phil Emery odor is going to linger for a few more years. #Bears

— dan durkin (@djdurkin) September 29, 2015

One of the great achievements Pace did right away was hit on his first draft class while finding capable players that helped the Bears become competitive again. All six drafts overseen by the current general manager have featured current NFL starters, while two of his drafts have featured one or more Pro Bowl players. Although Pace is criticized for his drafting of Mitchell Trubisky and Kevin White in the first round, he has been terrific at finding talent in the middle of the draft.

Ryan Pace drafting late round offensive skill players:

Jordan Howard (5th round)
Tarik Cohen (4th round)
Javon Wims (7th round)#Bears GM seems to have a keen eye.

— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) August 25, 2018

Those middle round draft selections include Tarik Cohen, Eddie Jackson, Jordan Howard,  Nick Kwiatkowski, Bilal Nichols, and Darnell Mooney. That matter when the previous two general managers in Emery and Jerry Angelo were fired for failing to find NFL talented players throughout the draft. Pace has also found free agents and undrafted players that paid off for the team, including defensive end Akiem Hicks, kicker Cairo Santos, wide receiver Allen Robinson, Cameron Meredith, and tight end Jimmy Graham. Even Pace’s most important defensive draft selection in linebacker Leonard Floyd went on to have a career year with the Los Angeles Rams registering 10.5 sacks.

"I believe in Ryan Pace. I believe he has an eye for talent."
– #Bears Akiem Hicks

— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) December 31, 2017

From a front-office standpoint, one thing that has solidified Pace’s success as a general manager was the interest of teams surrounding Assistant Director of Player Personnel Champ Kelly. Kelly has had several interviews for general manager openings in the last few weeks. Pace having members on his staff drawing interest from other teams for their general manager position shows the Bears’ ownership that he has quality football minds on his staff.

Bears assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly interviewed with the Panthers for their GM position this morning. The Broncos also received permission to interview him as GM.

Kelly is considered a respected scout who was key in building rosters for Denver and Chicago.

— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) January 7, 2021

Pace Can Justify The Decisions That haven’t Worked Out

Pace’s two most controversial decisions of his tenure have been the drafting of Mitchell Trubisky in 2017 and the hiring of Nagy a year later. The media and fanbase believe it is the failure of both the draft pick and the hire warrant his firing. Although Trubisky has failed to live up to the same level of success achieved by Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun, Pace’s decision to draft Trubisky, in the moment, made sense.

Cleveland has not made up its mind at No. 1, per source. Split opinions. Some like Myles Garrett, some like Mitchell Trubisky. We will see.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 12, 2017

Heading into the 2017 NFL Draft, the North Carolina quarterback was rated at the number one quarterback by several draft analysts, and several prominent mock drafts had him being the first quarterback taken. Although Mahomes and Watson were more NFL-readied, many viewed Trubisky as having the most upside. In the moment, it is understandable how and why Pace fell for drafting the North Carolina quarterback, especially for a team that has such poor quarterback history as the Bears. For as much criticism that Trubisky has received, he still has been named to a Pro Bowl and started in two playoff games, putting the team in a position to win one.

Mel Kiper's latest mock draft has the Bears selecting Jamal Adams with the No. 3 pick and Mitchell Trubisky as the first QB at No. 12.

— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) March 22, 2017

With the hiring of Nagy in 2018, Pace again, in the moment, made a justifiable hire. At the end of the 2017 season, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator was viewed as one of the best upcoming offensive coaches. Many NFL insiders believed that it wasn’t a matter of if, but when Nagy was hired as a head coach. When the Bears did hire Nagy, many compared it to the Rams’ hiring of Sean McVay a year prior. Furthermore, the Bears head coach came from the Andy Reid coaching tree that featured Doug Pederson, Brad Childress, Ron Rivera, and Sean McDermott.

Nagy is coming to an offense that has Trubisky (Alex Smith with a higher ceiling), Jordan Howard (top-5 RB), Tarik Cohen (Hill-like), and Adam Shaheen (could evolve into a real weapon in passing game). Not a bare cupboard. Give the man some WRs, Ryan Pace!

— Bryan Perez (@BryanPerezNFL) January 8, 2018

Pace can speak to these two decisions, even if they haven’t fully panned out as desired. Chicago’s general manager did not draft a quarterback that was a bust nor hired a coach who is overmatched and out of place. Unlike when Emery hired Trestman, where it was a completely out of the box hire, Pace’s hiring of Nagy excited many and made sense given what the NFL environment was at the time.

Bears Are Still Closer To A Championship With Pace Now

Many Bears fans believe that the team should have fired both the general manager and head coach to get them closer to winning a championship. A general manager and coaching change by McCaskey would have sent the Bears into a complete rebuild. By keeping the status quo for one more year, it ensures that there won’t be any major changes to the Bears’ roster. With a few changes to the coaching staff and the roster, the team could be a more prominent playoff contender next season.

With the right quarterback in place for the 2021 season, the team will also get Goldman back on defense to boost the defensive line. The Bears’ defense failed to consistently generate pressure without their defensive tackle to anchor the line freeing up Hicks and edge rusher Robert Quinn. Quinn could be poised for a rebound season if he recovers from the significant foot injury that hampered him all this season.

Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune was told in September that Bears pass rusher Robert Quinn had a nerve issue affecting his foot.

Quinn also told teammates he was battling drop foot, which means he has a hard time raising the front part of the foot.

— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) December 15, 2020

It is understandable and justified for many to question the decision to bring back Pace and Nagy for one more season, but their retention can also be accepted. The team has been competitive since exiting their rebuild in 2018. Two playoff appearances, one division title, along with three consecutive non-losing seasons, does matter. Back to back .500 seasons leaves more to be desired, but likewise, it means that the team isn’t too far off, which could be McCaskey’s reasoning to give it one more season with this regime.