The Bear’s Den, January 11, 2022

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARRRSSSS

As the Bears make changes again, it’s time for George McCaskey to try something new – The Athletic - McCaskey and the Bears can’t afford to keep doing things the same way. It’s time for a different approach in hiring the next GM.

Bears fire Ryan Pace: Rick Smith, Jeff Ireland, Joe Schoen on long list of possible GM candidates – The Athletic - The Bears fired Pace on Monday after seven seasons. Here is a list of potential GM candidates for the Bears.

Bears fire Matt Nagy: Jim Harbaugh, Ryan Day, Leslie Frazier on long list of possible candidates – The Athletic - The Bears fired Nagy on Monday after four seasons. Here’s a look at the best available coaching candidates.

Chicago Bears Fire Matt Nagy & Ryan Pace - Chicago Audible Podcast - In this episode of The Chicago Audible, the guys react to the breaking news that the Chicago Bears fired Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace.

Chicago Bears head coaching candidates: 10 options to watch - RSN - The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Nagy. Insider Adam Hoge has his short list of candidates to watch.

Details on the Firings of Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy - Da Bears Blog - I have been pretty locked in on the thinking of Bears ownership over the last few months, actually working a few friends harder than I normally would for information. Here’s the fruits of those efforts.

Next problem for Bears: What to do with president Ted Phillips? - Chicago Sun-Times - Bears chairman George McCaskey said Monday he would shift the team’s management structure to keep Phillips focused on the new stadium project. The incoming general manager will report directly to ownership, but — confusingly — Phillips will still be part of the hiring process.

Chicago Bears shakeup: Players react to Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace firings - Chicago Tribune
- After Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy and GM Ryan Pace were fired Monday, players are turning the page with a combination of sadness and motivation.

Bears fire coach Matt Nagy after 4 seasons as offensive futility persists - Chicago Sun-Times - Nagy went 34-31, and his .523 winning percentage trails only Mike Ditka and Lovie Smith among Bears modern-era coaches.

Bears fire GM Ryan Pace after 48-65 record to complete housecleaning - Chicago Sun-Times - The Bears managed one winning season and no playoff victories under Pace as his quarterback and head-coaching decisions unraveled.

Facts trump emotion in decision to fire Ryan Pace - Chicago Sun-Times - Only seven teams have a worse record since 2015: Washington, the 49ers, Lions, Giants, Jets, Browns and Jaguars.

Somber after Matt Nagy’s firing, Bears players acknowledge ‘results-driven league’ - Chicago Sun-Times - A few minutes before 9 a.m., Matt Nagy gathered his players for a team meeting at Halas Hall and gave them the news himself: He was being fired as Bears head coach after four seasons. General manager Ryan Pace also was dismissed.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Absentee ownership directly contributes to weird outcomes, like the firing of Brian Flores - ProFootballTalk - The Dolphins have struggled in recent years to find any real flow or rhythm. A big part of the problem is that the owner of the team doesn’t spend nearly enough time in the building to assess how or where or why things are going.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong: Bears vs Vikings - Snap counts, stats, and more - Windy City Gridiron - Here’s the full playing time breakdown for the Chicago Bears, a spotlight of some of their team stats, and also a few individual statistics from their season ending 31-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Bears head coach search: Chicago requests to interview Bills DC Leslie Frazier - Buffalo Rumblings - Frazier is a Bears legend.

Duerrwaechter: Ted Phillips’s Role Modified (Sort Of) and Bill Polian to Assist in GM/HC Search - Windy City Gridiron - After 23 seasons as the top football executive at Halas Hall, a change is finally being made. Albeit in a very minor fashion. And Bill Polian will aid the Bears in their searches.

Infante's Notes: Bears fall apart against Vikings, finish season at 6-11 - Windy City Gridiron - The Bears crawl out of the 2021-22 season with a collapse of biblical proportions.

THE RULES

Windy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. The following is not permitted in comments. No personal attacks, politics, gender based insults of any kind, racial insults, etc.

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder (their BOB YouTube Channel can be found here), Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, Rule of 3 with R. Schmitz, Danny Meehan, and Brandon Robinson, Bear & Balanced from Jeff and Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., and T Formation Conversation from Lester; EJ also co-hosts The Bootleg Football Podcast with Brett Kollmann; R. Schmitz has a film breakdown show on YouTube titled Run Pass Opinion; Will Robinson II has his WhiskeyRanger YouTube channel, and Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert.

Click on our names to follow us on Twitter: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Jack R Salo; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Will Robinson II; Robert Schmitz; T.J. Starman; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman; Like WCG on Facebook.