Head Coach or GM hire first...The great chicken or the egg debate

[fatkid73]

I was thinking it makes sense to hire a GM first and allow him to then put together the coaching staff. However, I heard someone on the raido argue that you hire the Head Coach first and take his input into hiring the GM to ensure they would work well together. IMHO I guess it would depend on the level of experience in the Head coach hire, but it seems like the tail walking the dog to me.

Thoughts?

 

[Midway Fields]

George fucked up by explicitly stating the HC reports to the GM in their structure.

Incompetence.

 

[mattb78]

GM > HC. Easy call. GMs typically get 5-7 years and head coaches get 3.

 

[playthrough2001]

Unless you’re hiring a superstar head coach, the GM should be in place and hire the head coach.

If there’s a chance your organization can get a Reid, Payton or Shanahan, you hire them and hire a GM they pick.

 

[baselman1974]

GM then HC.

 

[airtime143]

In retrospect we should have expected pace to be gone when the bears shied away from early fire early interviews.

My guess is gm gets to pick coach and start his clock.

Honestly that is what I would prefer in any of the positions- I wouldn't want to be a head coach that was hired by the team and report to a gm that may not want me.
If I am gm, I would rather pick my guy instead of having some joker put in for me.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Most times you want a GM first and then a HC.

Only time you want it the other way is if you have a Belichick type.

 

[Penny Traitor]

Logically, you hire the GM first, but this is the Bears. It would not surprise me if they started hiring positional coaches first.

"After an exhaustive search, we have found the Tight End coach you can build a franchise around."

 

[SugabearMVP]

Again, George is running this like a lemonade stand. First he gets outside help about determining if he should get rid of both Nagy and Pace, and now all of a sudden there's talk about HC coming in first?

This is nonsense and so is the rumor of having a HC give his input on the next GM. The GM can get rid of the HC!!!!!! I have no idea what George is doing other than setting us up for possibly more years of underperforming.

Someone please explain to me how George can ask for help twice for a GM spot and once for HC and yet get the hierarchy of his hires all messed up?

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Again, George is running this like a lemonade stand. First he gets outside help about determining if he should get rid of both Nagy and Pace, and now all of a sudden there's talk about HC coming in first?

This is nonsense and so is the rumor of having a HC give his input on the next GM. The GM can get rid of the HC!!!!!! I have no idea what George is doing other than setting us up for possibly more years of underperforming.

Someone please explain to me how George can ask for help twice for a GM spot and once for HC and yet get the hierarchy of his hires all messed up?

Why, other than for the sake of being impatient and obnoxious, are we bitching about the Bears' GM and HC search when right now literally NO ONE has been hired by ANY team?

 

[Applefan]

There's so much competition for HC's this year that it makes sense that they are interviewing both positions simultaneously.

 

[pseudonym]

All logic points to GM first and HC second. Do you hire a chef and then sell the restaurant to a new owner, who may not even like that style of cooking? Here is a minimalist Indian chef who is now going to work under a guy who wants classic steak and potatoes. WTH? No. GM first. Then he hires the HC.

 

[fenderpfunk]

Remember when they hired the GM first and then just hired the head coach for him a week later anyways? (Jan 2015)

 

[BaBaBlacksheep]

If the Bears spent two weeks hiring a GM then they’d probably miss out on some head coaches and people would bitch.

If they hired a GM in a week people would bitch it was too fast.

If they interview both at the same time to maximize time and gather the most info people bitch.

whatever they do people will bitch.

the only way people won’t bitch is if they win and we’re a long way from the next game…. So people will bitch.

I’m still just happy Pace and Nagy got fired. ?

 

[Visionman]

The GM will be in place before the HC. And the new GM with have THE say in hiring the HC, because they do need to work well together.

 

[pdxbearsfan]

If the Bears spent two weeks hiring a GM then they’d probably miss out on some head coaches and people would bitch.

If they hired a GM in a week people would bitch it was too fast.

If they interview both at the same time to maximize time and gather the most info people bitch.

whatever they do people will bitch.

the only way people won’t bitch is if they win and we’re a long way from the next game…. So people will bitch.

I’m still just happy Pace and Nagy got fired. ?

well said.

 

[Aquineas]

There should be no debate: it's monumentally stupid to hire a coach before the GM and then hold the GM responsible for that team's record. How long must the GM hold onto the coach he inherited before he can give up on him? Will that count against the GM's record?

 

[doctorbear]

Unless you’re hiring a superstar head coach, the GM should be in place and hire the head coach.

If there’s a chance your organization can get a Reid, Payton or Shanahan, you hire them and hire a GM they pick.

It’s amazing that the Bears never end up with a Shanahan or Reid type coach when available. Damn.

 

[remydat]

Jesus Christ this is not that complicated. Ideally you hire a GM first and let him pick the HC. However, this is an unusual year where almost a 3rd of the league is looking for a HC so the Bears can't wait to hire a GM first and then let him interview HCs.

Real life rarely follows the ideal. You have to be agile enough to change the plan based on the facts and circumstances on the ground. So long as at the end of the process the GM and HC share the same vision, agree they can have a good working relationship and succeed then it doesn't fucking matter.

Hiring Pace and letting him hire Nagy still failed so there is no guarantee. All that matters is they get it right.

 

[Black Rainbow]

It wouldn't surprise me if Teddy & George were saying something similar to..."We like Desai. He stays," to both perspective GMs and coaches.

Two of the guys, who were known to want more control, Dodds & Pederson, the interviews were said not to go so well.

Maybe we do get Champ Bailey. He'd probably keep Desai.