“The reality is the team wasn’t a consistent winner,” Phillips said. “So I talked to George and told him that we need to make some changes in terms of football reporting, and the decision was made to make a change.”
During Phillips’ reign, the Bears have a .480 winning percentage and failed to make the playoffs in 73 percent of their seasons. Phillips called the lack of winning “my biggest disappointment.”
Fans and media sometimes blamed Phillips for the Bears’ struggles, but he never made decisions about players and was not a meddler. He hired the people to make decisions about players and then discussed their choices with them.
“My role has been to be a sounding board with the general manager, to provide resources to support the team,” he said. “We have relied on our GMs to put the right structures in place and have the right evaluation processes in place. The Achilles heel of the Bears for many decades has been to have the right quarterback in place who is not only talented but can lead and raise the talent level around him. In my opinion, having the head coach or general manager report differently would not have changed any of that.”