Most NFL coaching interviews during an off-season are balanced around the schedules of the men involved. Typically the meetings go smoothly with the representatives of interested teams either visiting the candidate or them having the candidate flown to visit them. In the case of the Chicago Bears brass consisting of GM Ryan Pace, team president Ted Phillips and Chairman George McCaskey it was the former.
The plan was straightforward and simple. The trio wanted to streamline the interview process by going on a barnstorming tour together. This would enable them to locate the coach and get him hired as quickly as possible. Why do this? It would allow the team to then begin preparations for hiring a staff, opening up opportunities to land top notch assistants.
It’s a good plan if somewhat demanding on the energy and nerves of the men trying to execute it. On top of that, it requires a degree of cooperation from Mother Nature. That’s something they didn’t get early on. Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times reported a harrowing account of how the three men almost men their untimely ends while trying to stick to that plan.
Chicago Bears brass nearly got into plane crash during McDaniels visit
The incident came when it was time to conduct an interview with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He was busy preparing for the teams’ matchup with the Tennessee Titans but had a window in his schedule for a meeting. Pace, ever the stickler for staying on schedule, decided to head out to Foxborough with McCaskey and Phillips in tow.
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The problem? Most of the northeast was being slapped by a nasty storm, and the plane would have to fly directly through it. The details of what happened are incredible.
“The co-pilot of the Bears’ chartered jet braced himself, one hand on the throttle, the other on the ceiling. The Bomb Cyclone — the winter storm that blanketed the Northeast in January — shook the plane with an equivalent force.
“Coming up in scouting, I’ve flown a ton,” general manager Ryan Pace said. “But that was the most turbulent weather I’ve ever been in.”
Pace sat nearest the cockpit. McCaskey and Phillips, whose seat faced the rear of the plane, were behind him.
As the eight-seat jet descended, Phillips said it became the most frightening flight of his life. Pace said the plane was “thrashed.”
“At one point, I looked back, and Ted’s glasses flew off his head,” Pace said.
Said McCaskey: “What’s that Audie Murphy movie? ‘To Hell and Back’? ”
It was scary as hell.”
The internal monologues the three men had told the whole story.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘OK, if this thing goes down, it’s probably better that it’s on the descent because there is less fuel,’ ” Pace said.
“Ted was thinking, ‘Well, I can see the tree line, so this might be survivable.’
“George was thinking, ‘Oh, man, I should have laid out the full succession plan before we got on the flight.’ ”
They made it and were soon off to Foxborough, where Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was interviewed past midnight.
“As the plane is coming to a halt, Ted yells at me, ‘Ryan, this better be worth it!’ ” Pace said, laughing. “It was just insane.”
Turns out it was worth it, just not in the way they expected. The meeting with McDaniels went well but Pace soon came off with the impression that the young coach wasn’t fully committed to leaving New England. A few grew that even if he accepted the Bears job, there was a strong chance he might back out. Sure enough not too long after that McDaniels accepted the head coaching job in Indianapolis and later changed his mind, returning to the Patriots.
The Bears led New England and proceeded to their next interview, which was in Missouri with Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. No bad weather omens harassed them there. The rest is history.
