https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KaR_kSoG9I&t=3sIf coach John Fox was on the chopping block, what did that mean for Pace?
“I said, ‘We need to talk about Ryan before we go get a head coach because he only has two years left [on his contract],’ ” Phillips said. “Either he’s our guy or we need to make another change there, too.”
They discussed Pace’s signings in free agency.
“I would say it was 50-50 at best,” Phillips said.
And they discussed Pace’s draft picks.
“There was at least a sense in the ’16 and ’17 picks that, ‘OK, we may have hit something special here,’ ” Phillips said. “But we don’t know yet.”
The Bears felt Ryan Pace had done enough to earn another chance
In the end, it was Pace's conviction, steadiness, and work ethic that convinced the Bears brass that he deserved another chance to get things right. Phillips made it clear the discussion was mostly positive and they quickly came to the conclusion he should stay.Phillips called extending Pace’s contract by three years a “pretty easy decision.” It was a quick negotiation, too. No agents were needed.It was a calculated risk by Phillips and the McCaskeys. Nobody would've been surprised if they'd cleaned the slate and started fresh with a new GM. Instead they took the same approach they had with Jerry Angelo years ago. They bought into what he was building and let him go out and find the coach who could bring it all together. Angelo got Lovie Smith and the rest is history. It would seem that the same mode of operation is already working wonders with Pace.
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