This week, the Chicago Bears turned heads when they announced they’d landed their replacement for team president Ted Phillips. It will be former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren, a highly-respected executive with over 20 years of NFL experience in various front offices, from the Rams to the Lions and Vikings. The reasoning for the hire seems pretty clear. Warren has a wealth of experience guiding the construction of a new stadium. He did so for the Vikings in the late 2010s. Now U.S. Bank Stadium is regarded as one of the best in football, if not all professional sports.
However, that isn’t even close to the only reason the McCaskeys wanted him. There is a feeling he’d bring a breath of fresh air to an organization needing further modernization. Many feel the Bears are still run like a “Mom & Pop” franchise, trailing far behind other more professional teams like New England, Baltimore, Kansas City, and now Buffalo. Former GM Rick Spielman worked with Warren in Minnesota for over a decade. He spoke to Adam Jahns of The Athletic about what the franchise can expect.
He made one clear immediately. Warren is a quietly ferocious competitor.
“You have your base, building blocks of your systems in place,” Spielman said. “But he was just curious as I was on, ‘What can we do outside the box that may give us a competitive advantage within the rules? Is there anything out there — anything that we can be doing differently that maybe someone else isn’t doing that can help us get a competitive advantage?’
“We would look at different ways from analytics, how we were doing things, how he was doing analytics on the business side. And there’s just so much crossover. I think it’s critical that you have that kind of relationship in the building.”
With Warren, it’s always about striving to be the best.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the business side or the football side. An organization should always aim to be on top. Otherwise, what are you doing? That was reflected in how he ran the Big Ten. Spielman expects he will carry that same mentality to Chicago.
Spielman also used the saying: “Best in class.” That’s a Warren phrase. It’s how “he’d like to describe it,” Spielman said. It’s what he wanted the Vikings to be and what he’ll aspire for now that he’s with the Bears.
“Whether it was a practice facility or whether it was the stadium, whether it was this or that, it was always how does this help our football team because that’s ultimately what you’re trying to do,” Spielman said. “The No. 1 was how do we make this franchise from a business side, the No. 1 franchise in the NFL, and how do we make this football team, and all the things that you can add from the business side, to be best in class.”
Kevin Warren is what the Bears need.
When the person at the top might be the biggest competitor in the entire organization, it will trickle down to everybody else. While Phillips was a brilliant guy when it came to business decisions for the Bears, nobody would ever accuse him of being an asset on the football side. He never understood how to set a standard or identity for the organization. That is likely because he had no background in sports. Such is not the case with Warren. He played sports in his youth. His father played sports. His son plays sports. It’s in his blood.
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The Bears can bet on one thing. Once Kevin Warren is in charge, he will strive day and night to make them the class of the NFL. He is an ambitious man. Reports indicate he hopes to become the first African-American commissioner in NFL history. Turning the Bears into a winner would do wonders for his candidacy. Fans would love nothing better. It sounds like he and Ryan Poles will get along well. Both want the same thing. To take the North and never give it back.
Celebrate now, because he was an absolute disaster at the Vikings. The Wilf’s could not get rid of him and when they did – the were very happy. He is a “self” promoter and will push his way on the media at every chance. He is like a python and will slowly squeeze the life out of the operation. He is dangerous and will in time show what he is all about. Spends money like a drunk and his experience is overblown. The Wilf’s were forced to have him as he was attached to Reggie Fowler one of the biggest… Read more »
Thank you God.. and the McCaskeys, for finally coming to their senses. I thought the day would never come. Maybe it was pressure from the board, perhaps Sweaty Teddy was fumbling the Arlington deal. We may never know. However what we do know is it’s an end to the Ted Phillips decades of mediocrity. I think your being generous to call him “brilliant”, Erik, capable? efficient? maybe. Successful in the sense he made himself a good living off of the Bears for 25 years. And I hope and pray that we’ve found the man to lead the franchise in the… Read more »
Perhaps George is learning from past mistakes. Hiring Warren is a step in the right direction for the Bears. A real football man at the top will bring results no bean counter ever will.
Just hope he leaves Poles alone to do his thing. Warren didn’t hire him and Poles now reports to him. I figure Warren is 3 and done if he is successful in getting the Commisioner position. If not, then 6 years (when he will be 65) and through completion of the new stadium. Hope he works out.
It’s a good time to be a Bears fan. The future is bright! BEAR DOWN!