Is ownership really that bad?

Mighty Joe Young

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Hey man - I really appreciate you taking the time to write all that out. It makes a lot more sense to me now. Daley - is that the same Daley who backed JFK in the 1960 election? If so, that was a while ago.

So, the Daleys have a bit of a legacy in Chicago.

Richard J Daley was the Daley who backed JFK in the 1960 election.

His son, Richard M Daley was the mayor at the time of the Bears negotiating on Soldier field.

Both practically owned the city and were tied to the chicago mobs.
 

Marley's Liberality

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I'd be embarrassed to be a man who needed outsiders to consult him about quality football personnel when my grandfather founded the league. My entire life was leading to me running the organization and I took so little care to learn everything about the business that I let it be run by an accountant.
 

jazzmcfunk

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Look at other teams. Every single one of them will have fans screaming owners are cheap, incompetent, all about the money, etc, when things aren’t going well. It isn’t just a Chicago thing…
I agree! That's my point. We suffer because we choose to. lol
 

ThatGuyRyan

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I'd be embarrassed to be a man who needed outsiders to consult him about quality football personnel when my grandfather founded the league. My entire life was leading to me running the organization and I took so little care to learn everything about the business that I let it be run by an accountant.
Good point. one would think one of the kids would have picked up the sport by proxy. I guess that would have been Ed.
 

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Your GM needs help so he can keep his eye on the correct ball instead of being spread too thin. Could also use someone with football acumen to bounce ideas off of or be involved with hires, with help or not. It's been sorely lacking forever with this team. I don't know if it's cheapness, pride or lack of vision but the McCaskey kids continue to screw up this aspect of their front office.
 

cd35

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They are even worse than everyone thinks but there is this myth to this franchise that's it's great and historic bc it's one of the first and they were the best team in the '40s.

Since then they are one of the worst franchises in the league period, directly bc of ownership. Halas went from a great innovator and winner to terrible from the 60's on. Remember this is a franchise who had Sayers and Butkus but never made the playoffs.

It became a family trust fund to the point where the McCaskeys just collect their money and being surrounded by football their whole lives, never bothered to learn about the actual game. All you have to do is watch George's most recent press conference, it is the epitome of incompetence and stupidity. They are literally incapable of even hiring a GM or coach on their own.

Since Ditka left in '92 the Bears have only twice had back to back winning seasons. And one of those were just 2 back to back 9-7 years. Think about that. Forget playoffs. PLAYOFFS?? This team can't even string together consistent winning seasons.

It will continue like this until the team is sold, which, well don't hold your breath.
 

Anytime45

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A family who's primary income is from football. A football family knows nothing about football. They haven't won shit in over 30 years. They don't know how to properly evaluate their own product and they go to their competitors for advice.

They're worse than bad.
 

Da Coach

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Well there are clearly dozens of members on this board alone that could run this franchise much better than the MvCaskeys
 

Omeletpants

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Before someone starts a Bear's thread they should have to pass an football IQ test
 

Nelly

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I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm wondering what the biggest complaint is with the ownership. I know that many feel that ownership should have fired Nagy and Pace during the season, but doesn't loyalty count for anything? I mean if you look at it from that perspective, isn't that a good quality (annoying at times, yes, but still an overall good quality)? In a world where there is often no loyalty at all, this should mean something.
It's fine to a certain point. Pace was never being fired before he was, Nagy was more at-risk, but still would have been premature considering his positive record and having been saddled with Mitch the whole time which most people were blaming for the sputtering offense. Nagy got a guy he liked in Dalton and a young stud in Fields and proved he was as much the problem as anything else so you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that firing him is the right move. Had you fired him a year earlier, the coach pool would have been shit with Pace possibly being a lame duck GM.

Is it that there is an evident lack of football knowledge? It seems that making an effort to bring in people who are more 'subject matter experts' makes sense. If you don't know something, admit it, and then find someone who does. The search that they are undertaking for both GM and HC is taking a long time, but isn't that a good thing? Doesn't it indicate that ownership wants to pick the right people? What's wrong with that?
No one has a problem with casting a wide net, and no one has a problem with them leaning on Polian. That said, they leaned on Accorsi last time and that didn't really help. When the owners don't know how to win football games, that trickles down.

When I think of the Bears, I think of an organization that prides itself on tradition, of being a cold weather smash and grind football team. We don't have much drama like Vegas or Cincy or Cleveland, and I think that ownership has something to do with that.
We're a mom-and-pop-shop as far as sports franchises go. It's a family business and thus they place a high importance on how well they like the people they hire, which likely clouds their judgment when it comes to bringing in people to win football games.

These are legit questions I'm asking because I don't know. I don't live in Chicago, so I haven't interacted with the franchise in the same way that many of you have. My experience in life is that the grass is always greener on the other side. I just wonder if things would be worse with new ownership.
I've been saying this whole offseason that wanting Pace (in particular) fired is fine but don't assume for a second that this ownership is readily capable of finding someone better. Based on their track record, they won't. We're back in another cycle of hope that history suggests is likely to end in disappointment, again.
 

Shepard

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I'd agree that our ownership isn't cheap. They've haven't had issues in handing over bonuses for players and they even ate contracts of Emery and Trestman (THANK GOD) while they had multiple years remaning.

I just think they're terribly incompetent. Even if you scrap results (which you'd have to if you thought they were competent)...go back to Mark Hatley. He hired Jauron after Michael McCaskey publicly named Dave McGinnis the head coach before he even accepted the position....Now I suppose this was over 20 years ago, but thats as incompetent as it gets.

So they hire Jauron...THEN they have to hire an outside search firm to find a GM...which picked Jerry Angelo. Angelo was a good choice, but he inherited Jauron who wasn't his coach. This was a messy start for Angelo who eventually hired his coach in Lovie a few years later.

You think they would've learned from this as an organization...you'd think. Fast forward to the end of Angelo's tenure. Phillips fired him, but kept Lovie in place. So he picked Emery...who then again inherited Lovie, but it wasn't his head coach- only to fire him a year later....to then hire Trestman...

Then...for some crazy reason...Phillips got to pick another GM and he picked Pace. The day Pace was hired...Todd Bowles was in the building and he had to interview him for his head coach. The organization heavily influenced Pace in hiring Fox by all accounts (shame on Pace to a degree for this), but again..they interfered with his head coaching search from the get go. Several years later Pace hired Nagy after 3 years as GM. We all know this story well....I think they did their best and the intentions were good here, but it didn't work out.

For the Bears brass to have given the Pace & Nagy this last year was inexplicable. That staff got to pick the next QB in Fields. While I love Fields and am thrilled hes here...he won't be the next regime's QB. So again...things are off because they just can't get it right.

They've stuck their nose in where it hasn't belonged again and again. For them to be interviewing a HC for a 2nd time before having a GM in place is just another sign they have no clue as to what they're doing.

Until they hire a new Team President/CEO to choose the next GM...this will keep on going. They refuse to admit they have no clue as to what they're doing.
 

remydat

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The results have been poor but really the only curious decision was probably Emery and Trestman. They were off the wall selections IMO.

Otherwise, hiring Pace and Fox to rebuild the professionalism was a logical move as was hiring Nagy. Angelo and Lovie were perfectly fine hires before that as well.

It just hasn't worked out for a sustained period of time but Bears fans like to pretend every decision the McCaskeys made were obviously wrong from the get go.
 

Da Coach

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Imo the owner should not be too involved and let the GM run the team. Ask cowboys fans how they like the owner trying to meddle too much in the football operations
 

dbldrew

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Yes they are that bad.. the structure where George is in charge and he knows fuck all about football is beyond stupid..

If you are part of a billion dollar organization and you need to hire outside contractors to make major decisions for you, that is one of the most idiotic company structures you can have. They need a full time president of football operations that actually understands football, that way when its clear that Pace and Nagy are failing at their job you can move on right away and address the problem early rather then doing it late..

Imaging in Fields had a competent HC this year? Or imagining not even hiring Nagy in the first place? Mistakes happen all the time but if you are incapable of identifying if a mistake has even happened until it is way to late (like with how George is handling it) then you will always be behind the 8 ball..
 

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I know that many feel that ownership should have fired Nagy and Pace during the season, but doesn't loyalty count for anything?

Nope. Blind loyalty to incompetent people isn't something that should be applauded.


I mean if you look at it from that perspective, isn't that a good quality (annoying at times, yes, but still an overall good quality)?

Are you mental? No, it's not a good quality. This is a cut-throat "what have you done for me lately" multi-million dollar BUSINESS we're talking about here not some 'let's all hold hands, talk about our feelings, and make sure we don't step on any toes" hippie commune.


In a world where there is often no loyalty at all, this should mean something.

Loyalty is something that is earned, not just blindly given away to undeserving people.


Is it that there is an evident lack of football knowledge?

Have you been living under a rock the past 40+ years? This has to be a joke thread right?


It seems that making an effort to bring in people who are more 'subject matter experts' makes sense. If you don't know something, admit it, and then find someone who does.

Imagine being born the grandson of the owner of one of the founding NFL franchises and pissing away your entire life inside the organization without making even the slightest effort to learn anything.

Earth to moron: There should be no need to bring in a "subject matter expert" because after a lifetime in the business you SHOULD ALREADY BE ONE YOURSELF!!! Are you fucking kidding me with this shit?!?

The fact that these assholes have to bring in outside help is an indictment not some feather in their cap.


The search that they are undertaking for both GM and HC is taking a long time, but isn't that a good thing?

Not necessarily. If they spend 2 months interviewing and wind up picking another Emery/Trestman combo it's not going really going to matter that they spent 2 months interviewing is it...

Long or short time frame makes no difference to me, I just want the correct people selected for the job.


Doesn't it indicate that ownership wants to pick the right people?

Not necessarily. You can't drag this shit on forever. The longer it ends up taking the more they look like indecisive fools that have no idea wtf they're looking for.



What's wrong with that?

What's wrong is that when you know what you're looking for it doesn't take very long to make a selection.

When I conduct job interviews for software engineers it doesn't take me weeks to decide if someone is a fit for my company. 9 times out of 10 I've reached a conclusion before the interview is even over whether they're qualified for the role or not.


We don't have much drama like Vegas or Cincy or Cleveland, and I think that ownership has something to do with that.

:what:


I just wonder if things would be worse with new ownership.

Can't get worse when you're already at rock bottom.

Hopefully when Virginia dies they sell the team a cut-throat maniac like Bezos that isn't content with being a mediocre franchise and cashing checks and will hire actual competent people to fix this joke of a franchise so he can win some championships.
 
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stelz

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They are not cheap with the money spent on players. Maybe at one time it was true, but not anymore. The problem nowadays is the money is spent foolishly by the football leadership. The bears are not cheap in terms of their facilities as attested to by the recent 100 million dollar upgrade of HH.

As far as the budget for “football leadership,” I think it’s clear that the Bears ARE cheap, and they get what they pay for. For instance, instead of a football guy over football operations, you’ve had for years an accountant, who doesn’t know football. Now you’ll have a straight line to the owner, who doesn’t know football.

So instead of a football guy hiring the GM, you pay for consultants and end up with a Ryan Pace, who is not qualified, and whose budget for staff is small. The staff is short on scouts, there is no analytics guy, let alone department, so we all can call out the plays based on personnel groupings sent into the game by an overhired HC, who brings in second and third tier assistants. Not in every case, but there you go.

In essence, cheap on leadership, that wastes money on poorly chosen players, coached by poorly chosen leadership.
 
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