Despite hitting the floor running with a wave of candidates upon pushing Ryan Pace to the curb, it feels like Chicago’s search for a new general manager is going at a snail’s pace.
And it doesn’t appear to be picking up any time soon:
The #Bears GM interviews will stretch into next week, with #Colts college scouting director Morocco Brown expected to interview with the team’s brass on Monday, source said. His work in Indy scouting college players alongside GM Chris Ballard is well-documented.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 20, 2022
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports the Bears’ search for a new GM will reach a third week of interviews. Because of course it will! At this time, the Bill Polian led search committee has held interviews with nine candidates. That’s nice and all, but Chicago’s football team still has so many interviews to go. There are six candidates with whom the Bears put in a request to meet at the start of this process. Sheesh. It really goes on and on, doesn’t it?
At least one of those applicants will be interviewing soon-ish. Rapoport reports Colts Director of College Scouting Morocco Brown will meet with the team on Monday. Coincidentally (?) that is when Matt Eberflus is scheduled for his second interview for the Bears head coach opening. Hmmm. That is a bit of interesting timing. It might be pure coincidence, to be sure. But it will be easy for folks to make a connection between the two and wonder if Chicago is considering pairing two of Indianapolis’ brightest minds. And now, I’m wondering what Ed Dodds – who withdrew from consideration for the GM position – would say about this development.
Not that it needs to be said explicitly, but it should still be said: The Bears still have a bunch of work to do. A LOT. Not only in terms of catching up with potential hires on the GM side, but also from the coaching side of things. Chicago has at least four head coach possibilities it hasn’t spoken with to sort through. And even once that is clear, whomever gets the GM job could have their own list of names they want to chop it up with once they officially get in the big chair.
Don’t get me wrong. I realize that Chairman George McCaskey said this would be an “exhaustive” process. And I think having a wide-ranging list of top contenders beats rushing through an applicant for the sake of getting it done. But are we sure he didn’t mean to say exhausting? Because I feel as if that word also fits the bill.
The best-case scenario is that the Bears are putting their best foot forward in this situation. And while the pace might not be popular, it could be worth it to do a thorough search that unveils the best possible candidates. But the worst-case scenario is one we have already experienced as fans. It is one where ownership plucks a … vintage … NFL consultant to do their bidding, picks a GM and coach, pairs them with each other, and unleashes them on a team with a bunch of issues. Not the least of which is a talented quarterback neither the GM or head coach picked in the first place.
There goes that dèjá vu all over again feeling that Yogi Berra walk talking about…