Bears plan to keep Nagy, GM Pace for at least 1 more season
CHICAGO » Chairman George McCaskey insisted the Chicago Bears have the right culture to become a winning franchise.
So the team is sticking with general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy for at least another season.
What helped convince him to stay the course rather than make sweeping changes? A six-game losing streak — and how the team responded to it.
“The leadership, the collaboration, the adaptability, the ability to handle adversity,” McCaskey said. “Listen, we all want things to get better, and a lot of times you have to go through tough times before they get better. The way they handled success in 2018 and the way they’ve handled adversity the last two seasons lead us to the conclusion that they’re the best people to lead us in 2021.”
The decision might not be popular in Chicago, where the Bears are coming off back-to-back 8-8 seasons after winning the NFC North at 12-4 in 2018.
They bounced back from that six-game losing streak — their worst since 2002 — to make the playoffs for the second time in three years, albeit as the seventh and final seed in an expanded field. The Bears then got knocked out by New Orleans in their wild-card matchup on Sunday, giving them eight losses in their final 11 games, counting the postseason.
“The popular opinion is to make a change because we hit adversity,” team president Ted Phillips said. “I get it. But holding people accountable is much more than just starting over. Other teams looking for new football leadership, they point to the ability to overcome adversity, the need to adapt to challenges, the need to have a collaborative working environment between the head coach and the general manager.”
He said the Bears have the sort of “football culture all teams strive for.” But they also have a 42-54 regular-season record with two playoff appearances and no postseason wins in Pace’s six years. Nagy is 28-20 in three seasons.
“I get the frustration,” Pace said. “Trust me, I understand. I get it — 8-8, it’s not good enough.”