Ted Phillips has clung to the team president position with the Chicago Bears for just over two decades. Truth be told there were red flags during his tenure from the very beginning. In 1999 when he was promoted, that was the offseason where the Bears botched the attempted hiring of Dave McGinnis as head coach, leading to the Dick Jauron experience. It was also the year they drafted Cade McNown in the first round.
So one could say that was an omen of things to come. Now with four games left in what looks like another lost season, the calls for Phillips’ head have grown louder than ever. The arguments that he’s purely a businessman and not involved in most football decisions don’t sway anybody. He holds the highest job in the organization not named owner. Every major decision they’ve made has his fingerprints on it.
Especially those involving the football decision-makers.
With only five playoff appearances in 21 years, it’s fair to assume that Phillips has his fair share of regrets during that time span. Choices he would like to have back. An interesting question is which one does he feel hurt himself and the organization the most? There are some contenders. The Jay Cutler contract extension. Hiring Jauron over Bill Belichick.
Turns out one stands far above the rest. Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog has strong connections to the organization. During a game preview for the upcoming Bears-Texans matchup, he revealed something rather interesting. That being the key moment in team history Phillips wishes he could have back.
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“They hired Phil Emery, a candidate on very few radars. (Folks close to Ted Phillips have told me this is the most distinct regret of his time with the Bears.)”
Ted Phillips keeps proving he has no sense of football
People don’t remember how big of a reach Emery was back in 2012. This was a man who’d never been a personnel director in his career. The highest he ever rose was Director of Scouting in both Atlanta and Kansas City. Nobody could understand why the Bears jumped on him with so much enthusiasm. That is until they remembered he was a scout for Chicago from 1998 to 2003. This connection along with a good enough interview swayed the team brass that he was their guy.
Things started off with a bang as Emery traded for Brandon Marshall from Miami. However, it didn’t take long after that to realize they may have made a mistake. That came in the 2012 draft when he selected Shea McClellin with the 19th overall pick. Everybody knew that was a reach. While the Boise State standout had athletic qualities, he was a bad fit for that Bears defense and not even the best pass rusher on the board. That was Syracuse’s Chandler Jones.
The nightmare decisions only continued after that.
Lovie Smith was fired at the conclusion of that season despite going 10-6. He was replaced by Marc Trestman from the CFL. This over reigning Coach of the Year Bruce Arians. Then after narrowly missing the playoffs, Emery decided the time was right to pay Jay Cutler $126 million. This despite clearly being outplayed by backup Josh McCown during that 2013 season. Soon the team locker room fractured and Trestman completely lost control.
Ted Phillips had basically started the clock ticking on his time on top of the Bears organization that day in January of 2012. He just didn’t realize it at the time. Emery charted them on course to an organizational collapse they’ve been trying to rebuild from ever since.
