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George McCaskey and Ted Phillips Press Conference highlights: Bears hire Ernie Accorsi

The Bears have fired head coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery. Now the big bosses are talking about it: Chairman George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The big news is that Ernie Accorsi has been hired as a consultant by McCaskey and Phillips to aid in the search for a new general manager.

"You can never have enough expert football opinions," Phillips said.

Accorsi has an extensive career as an executive. He was with the Baltimore Colts when they drafted John Elway and wanted to keep him (Check out the ESPN Documentary "From Elway to Marino" for more on that). He also was with the Browns and got them Bernie Kosar. He last worked as a GM with the New York Giants and hired Tom Coughlin and pulled off the Philip Rivers for Eli Manning trade, one of the biggest and most complex trades in recent NFL history.

Accorsi last consulted with the Panthers in 2012. Wikipedia lists that lasting through 2014 but I think he helped them replace their last GM from what I am seeing online. That search led them to Dave Gettleman. McCaskey also mentioned that Accorsi was a suite-mate with Brian Piccolo at Wake Forest.

George said the new coach will have an opportunity to interview remaining assistants who have been retained, which is everyone except for Aaron Kromer. Phillips mentioned that Matt Cavanaugh's contract is expiring. The coaches will be able to pursue other opportunities in the mean time, though.

"Nobody played up to the expectations this year," said Phillips.

George McCaskey says they do not regret Jay Cutler's contract, "that was a decision made by Phil with our approval."

As for the cost of firing the coach and the GM with years left on their contract, George said: "We decided to do what's best for the Bears regardless of the money situation."

Here are some more tweets from the media:

George says no one thing that Emery/Trestman did sealed their fate: it was "an evaluation of their body of work."

Accorsi will sit in on interviews and make recommendations but final say on hire will be done by Phillips and McCaskey.

George denies that contact was made with Jim Harbaugh. George uses the words "pissed off" when referring to the Bears' matriarch Virginia Halas McCaskey. He took a long, long, long pause before using that phrase and expanding on that thought. Anyone who sees the highlights would say that McCaskey is clearly passionate and takes this all personally.

When asked about Jay Cutler, McCaskey said he liked him "personally and professionally" but all personnel decisions will be made by the new general manager and coach.

Despite concerns by media and fans about ownership structure and roster, McCaskey and Phillips allege that plenty of people want to run the team:

GM/coach is not ideal according to Phillips:

What are your thoughts about all of this stuff?