I don’t know George McCaskey, despite spending the last few years having to deny I am George McCaskey. Have we spoken? Yes. Several times. That’s it. We don’t have dinners together. But over the years I have become quite friendly with people deep inside the organization, several of whom can be described as being in George’s inner circle. And based on my communication with George, and my conversations with these individuals, there is an unequivocal truth to the following statement: George McCaskey is a very good man, and he very much wants the Chicago Bears to be successful.
Can George McCaskey engineer that success? So far, no.
First, something needs to be repeatedly stated. George is one of the most hands-off owners in the league. He hires a general manager, and that GM runs the entirety of football operations. (Ryan Pace was singularly responsible for millions spent on facilities in Lake Forest.) Kevin Warren was hired to take over the business end from Ted Phillips and get the new stadium sorted. The administrative aspects of this organization are a mess. The stadium issues are dramatically unresolved. Is Kevin Warren the worst hire of George’s tenure? No, not in a world where the football leadership was once Phil Emery and Marc Trestman. But Warren is pretty close.
Now, an argument that is constantly made is that George should hire a “football guy” to run the franchise from the ownership level. But that method has been proven time and time again to fail. Parcells flopped in Miami. Holmgren flopped in Cleveland. Coughlin flopped in his return to Jacksonville. These are three of the most impressive football minds in the modern game and they achieved nothing in those roles. Who would the Bears even hire? So, while many bark mad about the ownership of this club, I focus my attention on the football, and that means the GM.
The Bears could have Jim Harbaugh running their ballclub right now but that would have required firing Ryan Poles last off-season. Harbaugh is the alpha in an organization. He chooses the individual serving in the head personnel role, and he chose Joe Hortiz, his longtime friend, to lead the front office in Los Angeles. And, be honest with yourself, did Poles deserve to be fired in January? Poles tore down a decrepit roster for two seasons and rebuilt the team into what most of us believed should be a double-digit win unit this year, even with a rookie quarterback under center. They still need talent on both of their lines, but I dare you to find one preseason analyst who called this Bears roster anything other than seriously improved. If this 2024 season had happened a year ago, the move to Harbaugh would have been something of a no-brainer. But it did not.
Poles will likely retain this job moving forward, getting the opportunity to hire a second head coach. (The other fallacy about Poles is he did not hire Eberflus. Nonsense. Poles met with the three candidates and was told he could open the search broadly if he so chose. He liked Flus and was singularly responsible for keeping Flus after 2023.) Poles must immediately get two things right: (1) he has to find the right head coach to pair with his young quarterback and (2) he has to completely rebuild the offensive line as a unit. Not one player on that line currently should have a guaranteed job in 2025.
Also, stop with the “Ben Johnson as Savior” narrative. Johnson may very well be a terrific head coach but the seamless transition from lounge to showroom is by no means a guaranteed one. Also, Johnson is calling plays behind the best offensive line in the league. Shane Steichen used to do something very similar in Philadelphia and he’s 13-14 as a head coach in Indianapolis, having seemingly lost his grip on the quarterback position writ large. This is not to argue against the hiring of Johnson, but one should never be surprised when the Norv Turner and Wade Phillips’s of the league can’t translate their technical prowess into a leadership position.
The Bears believe they have their quarterback. I believe they have their quarterback. I don’t know how anyone could have watched Caleb Williams Sunday against the Packers and believe anything different. If they get the offensive line reconstructed and the right head coach, the winning will commence immediately. That’s how the league works. That responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of Poles, not McCaskey. And if Poles flops, the responsibility will shift to the next general manager. For now, all we can do is hope the merry-go-round stops spinning, and the winning follows.