Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Chicago Bears Insider Has Perfect Choice For President Of Football Ops

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The week isn’t even over yet and Chicago Bears fans are already exhausted. It began in the wake of that brutal loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Then the report from Jordan Schultz surfaced that players were done with Matt Nagy as head coach. Before anybody could absorb that, the Patch.com article emerged indicating that the plan was to fired Nagy following the Thanksgiving contest against the Detroit Lions.

This forced the organization into a panic mode. Eventually, team chairman George McCaskey was forced to meet with Nagy to insist the report was false before doing the same with the locker room. Details were first revealed by Dan Pompei of The Athletic. The entire affair was an absolute mess. Another indicator of the lack of leadership at the top. McCaskey was unprepared for that, and team president Ted Phillips once again wasn’t sure how to handle it.

A problem that has persisted for some time.

This led Pompei, of all people, to join in the chorus of shouts that have persisted for years. It is time for the Bears to change up their power structure. First and foremost by moving Phillips to just the business side entirely and installing a proper President of Football Operations. A position that has laid dormant since Jim Finks resigned in 1983. Pompei believes it is time to bring it back. To put somebody with extensive football experience in charge of a football team.

It sounds logical right? Plenty of top organizations have done that for years. Yet for whatever reason, the McCaskeys have kept Phillips in overall charge. While they continue to insist the GM runs the football operations, the reality is Phillips is involved in the hiring of all those GMs. A man with exactly zero football history. That can’t be allowed to continue. So Pompei offered suggestions for candidates to handle those duties moving forward. His first choice was easily the best. Former Bears defensive end and current NFL agent Trace Armstrong.

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“Armstrong represents numerous NFL head coaches, assistant coaches and executives, as well as college coaches. Among his clients are Packers coach Matt LaFleur, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, Panthers coach Matt Rhule, Penn State coach James Franklin and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley. Armstrong also has a bead on the Bears’ inner-workings from serving as the agent for Nagy and some of his assistants.

Armstrong also has a deep understanding of what being a Chicago Bear means — that is significant. He played for them for six seasons after being selected 12th in the 1989 draft…

…After playing for Super Bowl-winning head coaches Ditka, Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson and Jon Gruden, Armstrong can tell you what a great coach looks like. He also was the president of the NFLPA for eight years and understands the political side of the game.”

Chicago Bears don’t operate according to logic

Yes, it does seem Nagy will be fired eventually. The steep decline of the team this season was enough to finish the job 2020 started. Yet that doesn’t mean big changes are coming to the power structure. Phillips’ job appears secure in spite of everything and there are even rumbling GM Ryan Pace might survive as well. So one can understand if fans are feeling an overall case of melancholy right about now.

Justin Fields is hurt. Nagy will stay in charge for seven more games. Pace may or may not stay. Most importantly the two men who started this mess will make the big decisions yet again this coming offseason. It is easy to see why people have zero faith this Chicago Bears organization can become a perennial contender anytime soon. If ever. Hiring Armstrong would certainly be a drastic departure and a favorable one.

It is impossible to argue the credentials.

He has connections everywhere across the NFL. Players, coaches, and executives all respect him. He has deep ties to the Bears organization. While no candidate can ever be called perfect, this is as close as the franchise will likely ever get. Perhaps Pompei can get a good word in given his high standing in Halas Hall as well.

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