George McCaskey assumed the mantle of team chairman back in 2011 from his older brother Michael. It would’ve been interesting to get a look inside his mind back then. Could he possibly have had any idea of what he was stepping into? Probably not. In the first decade of his time on the job, the Chicago Bears have endured one of their worst periods in franchise history. Just two winning seasons and two playoff appearances.
The man has certainly tried to make favorable adjustments to the organization in order to get back on track. He changed GMs twice and head coaches three times. None of it has worked. At least not for long. McCaskey still hasn’t found the right formula for sustained success. He chose to stick with Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy this year because he believed they had the character to get this team over the hump after two straight 8-8 seasons.
Now the Bears are 4-9 and plunging in the opposite direction.
This is not the progress McCaskey said he was expecting back in January. This has only made Bears fans and media even more enraged. Many warned him this would happen. Now the team is stuck with the second-oldest roster in the NFL, no 1st round pick next year, and several expiring contracts with limited cap space to tackle them all. The only silver lining at this point is the presence of Justin Fields at quarterback and his massive potential.
Is the Bears chairman blind to all of this? Does he even care? No, he isn’t and yes he does. At least according to a source close to him and the McCaskey family. Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune spoke with them about where ownership is at in terms of his current thinking. By all accounts, McCaskey is not happy. He’s fully aware of how angry fans are and how significant change is likely needed to fix this problem.
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One source with close ties to the Bears stressed how tapped in McCaskey is to the increasing outside disapproval, aware of all that is being said about his team locally and nationally and not turning a blind eye to the need for major change.
“George listens and hears,” the source said. “I know that he’s frustrated. I’m just not sure he has a full sense of what to do.”
#Bears chairman George McCaskey joined @DannyParkins @markgrotesports to discuss the organization's power structure and its future outlook.
"It’s not so much the structure as it is the people," McCaskey says.
Full interview on Rewind: https://t.co/TGRZsUZ21e pic.twitter.com/ymJIG3GCW0
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) January 14, 2021
George McCaskey has kept the status quo for too long
His mode of operation has remained the same since he took over 10 years ago. Ted Phillips as team president, the GM answers to him, and the head coach answers to the GM. It is a simple system but one that has not worked. Maybe believe because the man at the top, Phillips, has zero football acumen. His entire education and upbringing were in accounting. Keeping him in a position to make football decisions always felt like a terrible idea.
Is this the time that George McCaskey finally goes in a new direction? There are rumblings that Phillips may step away from football-related decisions moving forward. A recent report suggested the Bears were talking to Trace Armstrong, a top NFL agent and former defensive end, about a front office position. One where he’d basically run the football operations. Armstrong publicly denied this, but it did feed into the idea that the organization could be undergoing a facelift.
On top of this, McCaskey is also researching GM and head coach options.
All of it points to that major change Wiederer’s source mentioned. It seems there is a sense of urgency inside Halas Hall. Both due to the presence of Fields and also the advancing age of Virginia McCaskey. This feels like the most important next month of work the man has ever done in his time running the organization. He has to get it right.
