GM Ryan Poles is under no illusions. He sees the writing on the wall. There is a strong possibility this will be the final off-season Ian Cunningham spends with the Chicago Bears as their assistant GM. All signs in NFL circles suggest he will be a general manager for a team soon. He even turned down the Arizona Cardinals’ job a few months ago. Teams are aware of him now. They’ve been aware of him for the past few years. He will be in high demand if the Bears do better this season and their younger players excel.
While that is great for Cunningham, it presents a challenge for the Bears. They will need to replace him whenever he does depart. Poles doesn’t seem concerned about it. He stated with unmasked clarity that he knew Cunningham wouldn’t stick around long. The goal is to get as much out of the rising executive as possible before he does leave. At that point, Poles has a succession plan in place. It appears, according to Adam Jahns of The Athletic, that co-director of player personnel Terry Koziol is next in line.
In his own front office, Poles sees future GMs. Assistant GM Ian Cunningham is next. He already turned down jobs this offseason. After him, there are co-directors of player personnel Jeff King and Koziol. Poles will tell you that they’re part of his succession plan.
“(Koziol’s) the glue; he brings people together,” Poles said. “He has a way of keeping everyone light and in a good mood and doing fun things. That’s always been him since college, and that’s where he’s special.”
Koziol shares a personal relationship with Poles like Ian Cunningham.
The two are Boston College alum. Koziol actually got the Bears GM his first job as a graduate assistant after his playing days ended. After several years in the scouting circuit, they reunited with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013. There Koziol became the team’s west coast scout from 2013 through 2017. He had some considerable success in that span. Eric Kush, De’Anthony Thomas, Marcus Peters, Steven Nelson, and D.J. Alexander all became quality contributors to the organization in that span.
It’s why he got promoted to national scout in 2018 and director of college scouting by 2021. When Poles wanted help in his new front office, Koziol was one of the calls he had to make. It sounds like the young executive is already a hit inside Halas Hall, thanks to his personality and eye for talent. Making him the next assistant GM sounds logical. It has to be somebody Poles trusts, like Ian Cunningham. The Bears continue to have one eye on the future. Such long-term preparation feels foreign. It’s refreshing.
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