Insider: Chicago Bears Inching Closer To A President Of Football Ops

The Chicago Bears are going to make changes next month. That much is all but certain. They tried keeping the status quo this year and it blew up in their faces. So now George McCaskey has to figure out what to do next. Not only does he have to make changes, but he also has to determine how high up the chain they'll go. Head coach? GM? He's already done that multiple times since taking over in 2011. It hasn't worked. There is only one thing left that he hasn't changed. That is Ted Phillips. The man has been team president in Chicago since 1999. McCaskey inherited him and saw no reason at the time to make changes. The Bears had just reached the NFC championship twice since 2006 and still looked like a competitive team. As time has gone on though, the picture is coming into view that Phillips might not have the wherewithal to make major football decisions. An admission the man himself reportedly made behind closed doors according to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.

The reporter confirmed this on The Sportscaster And Her Son podcast.

[video width="640" height="360" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Broken-Chicago-Bears-The-Sportscaster-and-Her-Son-Podcast-Episode-67-with-Dan-Wiederer_360p2021_12_19_15_39_42.mp4"][/video] From the sense Wiederer is getting, it sounds like the organization is considering a shift in its overall infrastructure. One that would "add another layer" to the football operations. Whether it's President of Football Operations or some other title, the point remains the same. McCaskey understands now more than ever that he doesn't have the capability to make such important decisions given his limited football background. With Phillips possibly stepping aside to focus on business-related ventures for the franchise, it would open the door for the Bears to expand their front office. Putting in somebody over top of the GM spot. A person to oversee everything football-related. Somebody with a keen knowledge of how consistently successful organizations are run.

The hard part for the Chicago Bears is finding that person

McCaskey leaned on former GM Ernie Accorsi back in 2015 to help reshape the football operations with Ryan Pace in charge. He had the right idea then but the problem was Accorsi wasn't sticking around. His influence was always going to be temporary. This left a 37-year old GM in charge of an entire football operation. Nobody was there to help him along at such a difficult job. When that happens, a guy is going to make rookie mistakes. Say like failing to interview every quarterback prospect before drafting one in 2017. While Pace seems to have learned some lessons along the way, it's hard to deny his lack of success. One winning season. No playoff victories. Salary cap issues. An aging roster with serious depth concerns. Does that happen if Accorsi stays on full-time? Maybe not. This is why having more voices in the room is a good thing. Especially outside ones. Guys that haven't been in the trenches for this Chicago Bears organization going back years.

Somebody that can see the problems.

Who might that be? Impossible to answer. Both because McCaskey hasn't made any final decisions yet and likely has no clear plan for what that new structure could be. He has to determine if Pace is out of the picture or not first. If not? That could complicate matters in an effort to find a new football ops leader. One hopes answers are coming in the next few weeks.