When interviewing head coaches, the Chicago Bears are casting a wider net than any other team this cycle. They have reached 19 candidates now that they’re planning to meet with, and that number could grow even further as more become available as teams drop out of the playoffs. Concerns have been raised about the pool getting too big, making it difficult for GM Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren to be properly thorough. That is especially true if they don’t have any sense of structure with their interviews.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune shed some light on this in a recent article. Based on what he’s hearing, Poles wasn’t lying about who was involved in the meetings. Each of the names mentioned, including himself, has been part of each one. However, there are some important details worth noting. It appears every candidate is getting personal time with each of the Bears’ top decision-makers.
The virtual interview process to this point has been as Poles and President/CEO Kevin Warren described. One source said a candidate’s virtual interview was spent mostly with the group the team detailed — Poles, Warren, chairman George McCaskey, senior director of player personnel Jeff King, special advisor Ted Crews and HR head Liz Geist. There was individual time for just the candidate and Poles, and the candidate had a window where he met with only Warren and McCaskey.
The Chicago Bears are showing they understand public perception.
One of the biggest concerns many had was a lack of understanding of the power structure inside the building. Who’s really in charge? There is also the question of Poles’ contract and how involved ownership will be. The Chicago Bears are giving candidates a chance to ask each of the top men in the organization difficult questions privately. This way, they don’t have to feel like they’re outnumbered when asking tough questions to such a large group of people. It is a smart decision.
Coaches can believe their voices will be heard and can speak to Poles, Warren, or McCaskey at any time. This will be a group effort. It is refreshing to hear this. While nothing is guaranteed about the Chicago Bears’ decision, it at least appears as if they have a firm grasp on what message they must convey to these coaches. It should help assuage some fears about it being every man for himself inside Halas Hall.
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@citizen34 Why do you think that “color” is the qualification of a person? As opposed to exceptional qualities being the qualification? I am seriously questioning people who feel that a criminal and fraudster was more qualified than either an older guy or a woman. (was it because of her color? Or that she hadn’t defrauded enough people to satisfy people? I don’t like Brian Flores or Thomas Brown for two totally different reasons. I like Ben Johnson and Joe Brady for similar reasons but as hesitant for the same reasons. (Not color). I like Pete Carroll and Todd Monken for… Read more »
I’m not sure if anyone does this, but in an interview process for middle management or executive positions, Asking a question about a football team is extremely telling about any candidate. Would they say they don’t know? Don’t know the details? Or have an extremely emotional opinion? Asking someone what they think, about something they “seem” to care about, reveals their level of attention to detail, how they accept of adjust to information. There are not a lot of huge, universal subjects that allows us to know how people think, at every level of a corporate structure (because most of… Read more »
@citizen34 People in the finance, investment and acquisitions. community generally don’t have any idea of how businesses are built or run. They wait for them to devalue, create the perception of “profitability” and then sell to another sucker. I’m just as curious as everyone else, about Liz Giest’s role in this process, but I’m not making assumptions based on her title or gender. Because I don’t know. But I also considered she may sit silently listening and assess whether a person can communicate with a wide DIVERSITY of players (or future players) to build a non-toxic culture. Obviously, I don’t… Read more »
@TGena
Always like these nuggets (Chicken Mc) of information you bring in your research.
I agree with you about Poles, just not as adamantly, and as long as someone is in the job, I want them to learn and get better (I’d definitely have you taking Cunningham’s place if he leaves). Since Ryan Poles was never “great,” you’ll never make him great again, but maybe you can get through to dummies.
@Byron
It depends on who’s casting net. If you have 20 idiots casting nets for their friends (Polian?), you will get whomever idiots think is fine (the daddy who buys them ice cream).
If you go on Sports Mockery, you’ll get Mike Vrabel (“leader of men”) until you don’t, or “best guy” (Ben Johnson) because someone else said so. I noticed that ZERO people who “like” Johnson, have every worked with him, or know him.
I noticed that a 3(?) time MVP and his coaching staff is getting no comments. Why?