BEARS EMBRACE PATIENCE, STICK WITH HEAD COACH, GM
Chairman Mccaskey warns that he needs to see progress under Nagy, Pace in 2021
If there were one right way to go about building an NFL winner, every owner would adopt it. But there isn't.
Is patience with a struggling GM or head coach most prudent? Or is it the opposite — keep hitting that reset button again and again, even after one season, until a winner is fielded?
The two Ohio franchises this century have offered the most extreme examples of both. Cincinnati Bengals owner Paul Brown saw Marvin Lewis lose all seven playoff games yet didn't lose faith in his leadership until the end of the 2018 season, when he finally fired him. In contrast, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam fired five head coaches over an eight-year period last decade before striking playoff gold this season with Kevin Stefanski.
Well, in the past few days we have seen additional examples of each approach.
On Monday, Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie fired Doug Pederson, his Super Bowl-winning head coach of just three seasons ago. This despite the fact Pederson has led the team to the playoffs in three of the past four seasons and won four of six post-season games.
On Wednesday, Chicago Bears chairman George Mccaskey announced his decision to retain embattled GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy for the 2021 season. Pace has been on the job for six years, Nagy three, and the Bears have won zero playoff games during their tenures.
Shouldn't this week's impulsive firing and patient retaining have been the other way around — Lurie standing by Pederson despite this season's last-place 4-11-1 finish, and despite the growing internal discord on various issues such as what to do with disappointing quarterback Carson Wentz, and Mccaskey wiping his hands of Pace and Nagy?
Maybe. We'll see.
The Bears' situation became more than a little concerning on Wednesday to long-suffering fans of that proud franchise during Mccaskey's post-season virtual news conference with local reporters. Particularly in the way he explained why he neither fired nor extended the contract of Pace or Nagy, and what that duo must accomplish in the 2021 season to retain their jobs.
Do they have to make the playoffs to return in 2022? Or win a certain number of games?
“We need to see progress,” Mccaskey said. “It's not a certain number of wins. We don't know what's going to happen in the 2021 season. We just had an unprecedented event during the 2020 season. We don't know what injuries are going to occur, what other challenges are going to arise, but we've got to see progress.
“I think all four of us will know whether there has been sufficient improvement or sufficient progress to continue past 2021.”
The fourth member of Bears leadership Mccaskey referred to there is Ceo/president Ted Phillips.
Clearly, Wednesday's comments revealed the Bears under Mccaskey and Phillips believe patience is the overriding virtue — making them much more like Paul Brown as opposed to the impulsive, meddling Jimmy Haslam.
“As we've read many times over the last few weeks, when you don't win enough games (it's), `Fire everyone,'” Phillips said. “That's not a recipe for success, in our opinion, when you believe in the people you have that can learn from their mistakes.”
Asked about the fate of Mitchell Trubisky — the still-mediocre quarterback Pace traded up to draft No. 2 overall in 2017, over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson (ouch) — Mccaskey said that although Pace and Nagy are still conducting “their end-of-season evaluation of the roster … it's pretty clear we need better production from the quarterback position to be successful.” Right-o.
Asked time and again what makes him believe Pace and
Nagy are the right men to make the decision on Trubisky, and to turn the Bears into a winner, Mccaskey said: “Part of it was their thoroughness. Part of it was how well they communicate. Part of it was their candour in assessing their own performance ... It just gave us confidence that retaining the continuity and sticking with these guys is the best route for the Bears at this time.”
BRONCOS HIRE GM
Denver hired George Paton, a 24-year NFL personnel executive, as the GM to succeed John Elway, who remains president of football operations.
Paton worked in player personnel with the Minnesota Vikings for the past 14 years, most recently assisting GM Rick Spielman on player acquisitions, salary cap matters and analytics. Before that he was director of pro personnel with the Miami Dolphins from 2001-06.
“In many ways, I feel like this team is a sleeping giant,” Paton said in a statement. “For me, it's the right place and the right time for this opportunity.”
URBAN WAFFLING?
By late Wednesday afternoon, Urban Meyer still hadn't decided whether to accept the Jacksonville Jaguars' offer to become their new head coach. A report surfaced saying Meyer has spoken with the Los Angeles Chargers about their head coaching vacancy too. Sounds like someone's trying to create contract leverage.
BIG BEN UNCERTAINTY
Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin didn't exactly dispel talk that Ben Roethlisberger might not be back as Steelers QB for an 18th season, even though he's contracted to be: “I don't have a clear assessment of the overall depth of the cap ramifications, but I think it's reasonable to assume there's a chance he'll be back, certainly.” A chance? Hmmm.
EXTRA POINTS
Reports said San Francisco defensive co-ordinator Robert Saleh is the leading candidate to become new head coach of the New York Jets. After his second interview with the Jets, Saleh reportedly was headed to Philadelphia to interview for the Eagles' vacancy … Three unnamed Dolphins players have doubts about whether Tua Tagovailoa should have been acclaimed as the 2021 starting QB by GM Chris Grier and head coach Brian Flores, according to dialed-in reporter Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald … If you missed it, Brian Schottenheimer won't return for a fourth season as Seattle's offensive co-ordinator, due to “philosophical differences,” per a team announcement … Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians said RB Lesean Mccoy (illness) practised on Wednesday, but RB Ronald Jones II (quad) did not.