The Chicago Bears knew they could not approach the upcoming search for a head coach as they had the last one. It always felt like things weren’t quite organized in 2022, largely due to the decision by George McCaskey and his search committee to run the GM and head coach searches at the same time. Such choices can often lead to chaos, misevaluations, and cutting corners. That is how they ended up with Matt Eberflus. This time around, GM Ryan Poles and his search team were determined to be more methodical and thorough.
That meant finding a way to organize the massive list of candidates they intended to interview. According to Courtney Cronin of ESPN, the committee devised a simple way to keep things in perspective. They took a page right out of their school days by assigning a grade to every interview they held. This helped to pinpoint which coaches made the best impressions and would likely get a second interview when necessary. As it turns out, things never got that far.
The search committee, which consisted of Poles, Warren, McCaskey, director of football administration Matt Feinstein, senior player personnel director Jeff King, chief administrative officer Ted Crews and chief human resources officer Liz Geist, graded each interview.
Johnson received the top grade, according to a team source, who said: “He was the leader in the clubhouse.”
The Chicago Bears found their guy.
It is rather fitting that Ben Johnson, a legitimate nerd who graduated from North Carolina with degrees in mathematics and computer science, aced a test. There had been concerns going into this cycle about him. Whispers suggested that Johnson had trouble during previous interviews, not quite looking comfortable. It appears that choosing to take an extra year to stay in Detroit and keep maturing was a smart decision. He came across as calm, confident and well-prepared this time around.
While nobody is upset with the final result, one burning question remains unanswered: What grades did the other 16 coaches receive from the Chicago Bears? Mike McCarthy, Pete Carroll, Ron Rivera, Eddie George, and several others got the opportunity to make an impression. Few details have emerged on how they went. If things don’t work out with Johnson for whatever reason, it would’ve been fascinating to see who else came close. Alas, that probably will never be known.
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The fact that this is even discussed is embarrassing. Any person that has ever hired anyone has most likely created a matrix with values generated from level of importance. Each person grades each candidate accordingly. Did our boys have confirmation bias or truly grade each candidate with an open mind? I love the hire, but I have zero confidence in our organization. I am sure 30 other teams are laughing and wondering why this is a thing in the year 2025.
Well, what else was to be expected by a billion-dollar corporation with a committee of six members? Artificial intelligence should have been utilized as well in the processes.
I wanted the Bears to fire Angelo and bring in the Eagles VP of player personnel. A young guy named Howie Roseman.
I mean, it would be kinda awkward if he wasn’t their top choice. But then again, it’s the Bears.
If anyone is tired of reading endless, and occasionally, encyclopedic, excuses for our current GM’s failures, the Wall Street Journal has an excellent article about Howie Roseman, who is taking the Eagles to his THIRD Super Bowl in seven years… All of this happening while dealing with similar ( although not exactly) the same issues with changing coaching, QBs, staffs, and players that are frequently cited as excuses for why Ryan Poles has failed to produce even a single winning season here. It’s a good read, and food for thought the next time you read the litany of excuses people… Read more »