Chicago Bears Offseason 2012

[jersey cubs fan]

It's quite clear that Ted Phillips is not capable to make this hire. It should unnerve Bears fans that the future of this franchise is in the hands of a glorified accountant.

 

I don't trust the guy in the least and he shouldn't have his job, but I still think he's quite capable of making the right hire. It would be so very Bears though to need an embarrassing outcome here to convince ownership that Ted needs to be replaced.

[Theo]

He wasn't capable ten years ago, at least that time he hired a search firm. What's changed in ten years? He has a bigger roladex?

[Magnetic Curses]

i'm upset about losing out on mckenzie, but man, he looks like he was born to be the raiders' GM.

 

as far as our own GM search, i don't see a way out of the mess that has been created, it's like they're absolutely intent on doing the dumbest thing possible. i mean, you naturally assume people in important positions got there by being savvy and smart.

 

just give a great candidate a lot of money, it's easy.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Stannis

[Theo]

I was listening on the Score this morning, and they also said part of the problem is the Bears are trying to hire a GM, but in reality they are looking for a pro personal guy. Basically Ted Phillips has alot of the GM powers, or roles that your typical candidate would look for.

 

This entire thing is assinine. The next GM should report directly to McCaskey, not Phillips. Just like Theo reports to Tom Ricketts, not Crane Kenney. Ted Phillips is a cancer on this organization and until he is removed or stripped of power nothing with change.

[jersey cubs fan]

He wasn't capable ten years ago, at least that time he hired a search firm. What's changed in ten years? He has a bigger roladex?

 

Essentially, yes. Phillips went from an accountant to a team executive in the 90's and became CEO/President in 99. When he went through the Hatley dismissal and Angelo hiring he was pretty new to the job. He hired a pretty good candidate who stabilized a fairly pathetic franchise and became pretty active in league-wide activities as the executive face of the Bears. He should have contacts he can trust who can answer his questions, he should have a pretty good idea of who is out there, who is available and who the right guys are. He's got the resume of a guy who should be able to hire a good GM, and he's not an idiot. He may be looking at this in too much of a cocky "we want a person who wants to be a Bear" mentality and he may end up screwing it up, but he's capable of hiring the right guy.

[Theo]

I just get the gut feeling that Tim Ruskell will be our new GM.

[jersey cubs fan]

I was listening on the Score this morning, and they also said part of the problem is the Bears are trying to hire a GM, but in reality they are looking for a pro personal guy. Basically Ted Phillips has alot of the GM powers, or roles that your typical candidate would look for.

 

This entire thing is assinine. The next GM should report directly to McCaskey, not Phillips. Just like Theo reports to Tom Ricketts, not Crane Kenney. Ted Phillips is a cancer on this organization and until he is removed or stripped of power nothing with change.

 

The Score isn't exactly a great place to get your information. Ted Phillips is an annoyance, but a cancer? There's no reason why the next GM has to report directly to the owner. The McCaskeys are not Jerry Jones/Dan Snyder or even Jim Irsay types. They aren't in their making any sort of decisions from an ownership perspective. They hired a guy who is capable of being what a president/CEO type needs to be. There's reason to doubt if he will, but he's been around the NFL for decades and should be capable of hiring the right person.

[Theo]

Again, you have a Phillips, who has a layer of authority over the GM. That alone is going to prevent you from getting the best GM candidates. Ted Phillips should not be making football decisions. He already made a football decision by deciding that Lovie deserved to keep his job. Not saying that Lovie should have been fired, but that is a decision you leave to your GM, who presides over football operations. I'm telling you, nobody wants this job.

[jersey cubs fan]

Again, you have a Phillips, who has a layer of authority over the GM. That alone is going to prevent you from getting the best GM candidates. Ted Phillips should not be making football decisions. He already made a football decision by deciding that Lovie deserved to keep his job. Not saying that Lovie should have been fired, but that is a decision you leave to your GM, who presides over football operations. I'm telling you, nobody wants this job.

 

Lots of sports teams have business men in between the GM position and the owner.

 

 

There's no good reason to compare this to the Cubs situation. NFL GMs aren't the difference makers that MLB GMs are. Coaches determine the direction of the team.

[Theo]

No, talent determines the direction of the team.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I'd take the Bears GM position in a heart beat, and I'd do it with no homerism involved. to say nobody wants the position, or even nobody good, is pretty nuts I would think

[KingCubsFan]

No, talent determines the direction of the team.

Right. An NFL coaching staff is much, much more important than a baseball coaching staff, but as the Bears have showed, talented coaches can only mask the deficiencies of inferior players for so long.

[jersey cubs fan]

No, talent determines the direction of the team.

Right. An NFL coaching staff is much, much more important than a baseball coaching staff, but as the Bears have showed, talented coaches can only mask the deficiencies of inferior players for so long.

 

But those coaches determine a lot about what talented is selected and the future of that talent. And there are loads of very talented players that don't pan out, due in no small part to a bad fit in a coach's scheme.

[jersey cubs fan]

In MLB, the best baseball players will win. In the NFL, talent does not translate in the same way. You can't just acquire the best talent and go play. Scheme matters, game planning matters, and getting that talent to play together matters. Coaches are the key there. The NFL doesn't have Theo Epsteins. This was the main reason why I wasn't ecstatic about Angelo getting fired. He was pretty good at his job, but there's no telling how good the next guy will be.

[davell]

In MLB, the best baseball players will win. In the NFL, talent does not translate in the same way. You can't just acquire the best talent and go play. Scheme matters, game planning matters, and getting that talent to play together matters. Coaches are the key there. The NFL doesn't have Theo Epsteins. This was the main reason why I wasn't ecstatic about Angelo getting fired. He was pretty good at his job, but there's no telling how good the next guy will be.

I wanted Angelo gone(just didn't give Cutler weapons, in my opinion) but agree with everything else you said for sure.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Angelo was good at 1/3 of his job: wow-ing FA's or pulling the trigger on a big trade for a franchise QB. Hes horrible at drafting, and in this league, you have to be good at it. Well, maybe not horrible, but 1/2 of what he should be.

[rawaction]

Angelo was good at 1/3 of his job: wow-ing FA's or pulling the trigger on a big trade for a franchise QB. Hes horrible at drafting, and in this league, you have to be good at it. Well, maybe not horrible, but 1/2 of what he should be.

 

I think Angelo's draft record is overblown. He's never been a great drafter, but Iwouldn't call him horrible either. The major issue has been him ignoring the OL.

 

But he has drafted Pro Bowlers in: Tillman, VAsher, T Harris, M Brown, Briggs, Hester, and Forte. Also, guys like Alex Brown, Melton, Moore, Olsen, Manning, M Anderson, Benson, Orton, C Harris, Tank, Berrian, and Columbo are/were solid NFL players.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Angelo was good at 1/3 of his job: wow-ing FA's or pulling the trigger on a big trade for a franchise QB. Hes horrible at drafting, and in this league, you have to be good at it. Well, maybe not horrible, but 1/2 of what he should be.

 

I think Angelo's draft record is overblown. He's never been a great drafter, but Iwouldn't call him horrible either. The major issue has been him ignoring the OL.

 

But he has drafted Pro Bowlers in: Tillman, VAsher, T Harris, M Brown, Briggs, Hester, and Forte. Also, guys like Alex Brown, Melton, Moore, Olsen, Manning, M Anderson, Benson, Orton, C Harris, Tank, Berrian, and Columbo are/were solid NFL players.

 

......who mostly aren't here anymore. He hasnt had a good defensive pick since when, Moore? Other then Melton who is still developing

[davell]

Without looking at any data, I'd say Angelo was definitely bottom half, maybe even bottom third as far as GM's go, if looking at their histories. To me, that's enough to want someone else, by itself, considering how important the draft is. I just want Cutler to have time to throw the ball and have him a guy or two that's consistently going to get open for him. If not for that, I could have lived with Angelo a tad longer myself. But I don't trust him with offensive picks whatsoever.

[Guest]

Angelo was good at 1/3 of his job: wow-ing FA's or pulling the trigger on a big trade for a franchise QB. Hes horrible at drafting, and in this league, you have to be good at it. Well, maybe not horrible, but 1/2 of what he should be.

 

I think Angelo's draft record is overblown. He's never been a great drafter, but Iwouldn't call him horrible either. The major issue has been him ignoring the OL.

 

But he has drafted Pro Bowlers in: Tillman, VAsher, T Harris, M Brown, Briggs, Hester, and Forte. Also, guys like Alex Brown, Melton, Moore, Olsen, Manning, M Anderson, Benson, Orton, C Harris, Tank, Berrian, and Columbo are/were solid NFL players.

 

......who mostly aren't here anymore. He hasnt had a good defensive pick since when, Moore? Other then Melton who is still developing

 

Chris Conte and Major Wright looked pretty good together before Conte got hurt. Paea looks like a nice addition to the line as well.

[rawaction]

Angelo was good at 1/3 of his job: wow-ing FA's or pulling the trigger on a big trade for a franchise QB. Hes horrible at drafting, and in this league, you have to be good at it. Well, maybe not horrible, but 1/2 of what he should be.

 

I think Angelo's draft record is overblown. He's never been a great drafter, but Iwouldn't call him horrible either. The major issue has been him ignoring the OL.

 

But he has drafted Pro Bowlers in: Tillman, VAsher, T Harris, M Brown, Briggs, Hester, and Forte. Also, guys like Alex Brown, Melton, Moore, Olsen, Manning, M Anderson, Benson, Orton, C Harris, Tank, Berrian, and Columbo are/were solid NFL players.

 

......who mostly aren't here anymore. He hasnt had a good defensive pick since when, Moore? Other then Melton who is still developing

 

Chris Conte and Major Wright looked pretty good together before Conte got hurt. Paea looks like a nice addition to the line as well.

 

Wright was also pretty good in 2010 with 0 missed tackles and no major missed assignments. He's still a solid safety, he'll probably never be great though. Yeah, and Conte played really well for the most part.

 

The major issues with Angelo drafting came when he got cocky and started thinking he was a better talent evaluator than he was. I'm talking about reaching for Bazuin and Wolfe, trading out of the 2nd round to get the pool jumper (Jarron Gilbert), and then when those picks didn't work out, he didn't have any early picks to fall back on because of the Cutler trade. The ignoring of the OL and inability to find QB talent without trading top picks were his downfall. And even then, I'd take the Cutler trade 100 times out of 100.

[minnesotacubsfan]

The Cutler trade was nearly a gimme. All he had to do was outbid everyone else

[minnesotacubsfan]

Chicagobears.com is saying the Bears have 4 interviews coming up:

 

"..

 

Here's a closer look at the four candidates who will interview with the Bears:

 

Phil Emery

 

Chiefs director of college scouting

 

Emery first entered the NFL as an area scout with the Bears from 1998-2004. He later served as director of college scouting with the Falcons from 2004-08 before working as a regional scout for Atlanta leading up to the 2009 draft. Emery has spent the past three seasons as Kansas City's director of college scouting.

 

The Garden City, Mich., native served as director of strength and conditioning services as well as an associate professor at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1991-98. He was responsible for the development, administration and supervision of all strength and conditioning activities for 4,000 Midshipmen.

 

Jason Licht

 

Patriots director of pro personnel

 

Licht is in his 16th NFL season. He re-joined the Patriots personnel department in 2009 after previously spending four seasons (1999-2002) with New England. In 2008, Licht served as a personnel executive for the NFC Champion Cardinals after spending five seasons with the Eagles as vice president of player personnel (2006-07) and assistant director of player personnel (2003-05).

Licht first joined the Patriots personnel department in 1999 as a college scout. In June 2001, he became the team's national scout, responsible for evaluating top college prospects and NFL players. After the Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVI championship in February 2002, Licht was promoted to assistant director of player personnel, a position he held through the 2002 season.

 

Jimmy Raye

 

Chargers director of player personnel

 

Raye oversees the Chargers' pro and college scouting departments and assists on player personnel matters. He joined San Diego in 1996, spending four seasons as a scout from 1996-99 and eight as director of college scouting from 2000-07.

 

Raye was a wide receiver with the Los Angeles Rams in 1991 and later went to training camp with the Chargers in 1992 and Houston Oilers in 1993. His father, Jimmy Raye II, played for the Eagles in 1969 and spent 34 years as an NFL assistant, most recently with the 49ers in 2010.

 

Marc Ross

 

Giants director of college scouting

 

Ross is in his fifth season as Giants director of college scouting. He joined the organization in 2007 and ran his first draft in 2008.

 

Ross first worked in the NFL as a public relations intern with the Giants in 1995. He later joined the Eagles personnel department in 1996 before serving as the team's eastern regional scout from 1997-2000, when at age 27 he became the NFL's youngest college scouting director.

 

While Emery, Licht, Raye and Ross are scheduled for interviews, Bears director of player personnel Tim Ruskell also remains an in-house candidate to replace Angelo. The team has not ruled out additional candidates."

 

I don't know what to make of any of these

[WrigleyField 22]

The Cutler trade was nearly a gimme. All he had to do was outbid everyone else

Lol wut. Then every trade ever in any sport was a gimme.

[Careless]

Tim Ruskell really is the worst: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawksblog/2016485412_noneofruskellsfirstroundersremainseahawks.html#.TwnZ4Ep_T6U.twitter

 

Honestly, I think a somewhat knowledgeable football fan using the internet could achieve similar, if not better, results

3 from the 7th and none from the 1st, 5th, 6th? Is he drawing from a hat?