In probably one of the more eventful Tuesdays in recent NFL memory, the Chicago Bears kicked things off by finding their next general manager. In a surprise twist, 36-year old Ryan Poles won the race against some pretty stiff competition. The Kansas City Chiefs director of player personnel made a huge impression on George McCaskey and his search team. Enough to where the owner picked the executive up from the airport personally.
That was the clearest indication that Poles was getting the job. Nobody can fault the decision. He has been a central player in helping the Chiefs become the class of the AFC over the past several years. A team that will be playing in its fourth straight conference title game with a chance to reach their third straight Super Bowl. It is honestly surprising nobody else has plucked from the Chiefs front office to this point.
Many feel the Bears got it right.
Poles has a lot of fans around the league. He is viewed as intelligent, organized, detailed, and somebody that blends different approaches together. Old school scouting and new school analytics. Something the Bears were felt to have been lacking for years. Yet some still have reservations. They want to see what he does with the head coaching position. His first big decision as GM. There are fears McCaskey will try to do what he did with Pace seven years ago. Pair him with an experienced coach like John Fox.
That doesn’t seem like it will be the case this time. According to Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog, who first broke the news that the Bears were zeroing in on Poles, the new GM made it clear during his meetings with the team. The final decision on the head coach was his and his alone. The search moving forward would be under his guidance. McCaskey agreed.
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Confirmed: Ryan Poles will conduct interviews with Caldwell, Quinn and Eberflus by end of day Wednesday. (Unsure if he’ll expand list.)
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 25, 2022
These interviews will be done exclusively by him. https://t.co/QosRiJBIbC
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 25, 2022
Poles demanded it. https://t.co/ajZmmYVQaL
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 25, 2022
Ryan Poles is already showing he isn’t anything like Pace
The fact he was willing to make a firm demand of his new boss like that shows he has a backbone. He can be a leader. Back in 2015, Pace decided not to rock the boat and accepted the insistence of pairing with Fox. This was despite his personal interest in guys like Todd Bowles and Dan Quinn. Maybe if he’d stood his ground back then, things might’ve gone different those first three years.
It is clear Ryan Poles has no intention of letting that happen. He will meet these candidates by himself and make the determination on who is best for the Chicago Bears. As he should. Where it gets interesting is whether he might expand the current list of finalists. Right now three names have second interviews set up. Former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, and Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus believes more names will surface soon.
Believe it will be expanded https://t.co/nzdH8Xekjw
— Brad Spielberger, Esq. (@PFF_Brad) January 25, 2022
This likely means that the head coaching search will take more time. Something Bears fans would welcome given their feelings for the current finalists. This is a huge decision for Poles. In the Super Bowl era, only one GM can say with absolute certainty he got his head coaching choice right. That was Jerry Angelo when he hired Lovie Smith. That will be a challenging bar to clear.
