The Chicago Bears have been confusing their fanbase for quite some time and, as people come and go, George McCaskey remains a constant.
The franchise chairman is second only to his mother, Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey, and has long been seen by fans as an ineffectual leader passing the buck to the many general managers and head coaches that he’s overseen the hiring and firing of.
#Bears chairman George McCaskey has now fired three general managers (Jerry Angelo, Phil Emery, Ryan Pace) and has overseen the firing of four head coaches (Lovie, Trestman, Fox, Nagy). How many bites of the apple does he deserve?
— Mark Potash (@MarkPotash) January 10, 2022
Monday, the Bears fired head coach Matt Nagy as well as general manager Ryan Pace in a series of moves that were expected and, for many fans, long overdue. Following a 12-4 initial season, Nagy’s teams went 8-8, 8-8, and 6-11 and suffered for play-calling issues that tended to lead back to him. Pace has been GM since 2015, which includes just two playoff appearances in seven seasons.
McCaskey made a rare appearance in front of reporters on Monday to discuss the changes. And based on the reactions from those in attendance as well as Bears fans watching from home, he did not inspire much in the way of confidence.
McCaskey opened his press conference by scolding the Bears fanbase over a few kids booing Matt Nagy’s son at a high school football game, which set the tone for a strange day.
Bears owner George McCaskey's first comments on Matt Nagy's firing are about how outrageous and inexcusable it was for Cary-Grove HS to taunt him and his son during one of his games last season.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) January 10, 2022
George McCaskey opened his press conference with nice words about Jeff Dickerson and blasts those who mocked Matt Nagy's kid at a sporting event.
Both are wonderful notions. Dunno that I'd lead my first presser in a year with it.— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) January 10, 2022
george mccaskey had BEEF with those high school kids
— cam ellis (@KingsleyEllis) January 10, 2022
George McCaskey bringing up Bears fans chanting "fire Nagy" at Matt's son's high school football game for absolutely no reason.
— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) January 10, 2022
McCaskey then noted that the next general manager of the Bears will report directly to him and will have full control of all football operations, which differs only in that Pace reported to team president Ted Phillips.
Bears' George McCaskey says he, not Ted Phillips, is the sole decider on the next GM. Phillips will remain as president and the McCaskey family has "full confidence" in him, but GM will report directly to ownership.
He hints Phillips will shift focus to the new stadium project.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) January 10, 2022
However, he also added that Phillips will still be involved in the hiring process, so…
Why is Ted Phillips still involved in the GM search if the GM won't report to him?
George McCaskey says he continues to trust Ted and Ted will be the one negotiating the contract with the new GM.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) January 10, 2022
When asked about whether or not he’s accountable for the way the Bears have failed to sustain winning while he has been chairman (2011), McCaskey said that he spoke with the board and “ownership has informed me it wishes me to continue in this role,” which sent a lot of people into hysterics as “ownership” is literally his mother.
Mark Potash asked when accountability comes for George McCaskey himself. George’s answer (basically) “my mom has evaluated my job & says I can continue to do it.” #Bears
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) January 10, 2022
George McCaskey asked about the Bears poor record under his leadership the last 11 years, says "ownership has informed me it wishes me to continue in this role" as Chairman.
Ownership is his mommy.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 10, 2022
Mark Potash asked when accountability comes for George McCaskey himself. George’s answer (basically) “my mom has evaluated my job & says I can continue to do it.” #Bears
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) January 10, 2022
,@MarkPotash absolutely just dominated the chairman of The Chicago Bears and made him hide into the corner.
Basically ending with, My family said I can keep doing what I want.
— Bears Nation (@BearsNationCHI) January 10, 2022
McCaskey was then asked what his mother thinks of the state of the Bears and, well, things somehow got even more awkward.
Bears chairman George McCaskey just quoted Bears owner Virginia McCaskey — "I'm very, very disappointed" — and said she said it "as only a mother could."
This is sad.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 10, 2022
Asked if his mother, Virginia McCaskey, is "pissed" again this time around, George McCaskey says, "I asked her for her assessment of our season and she said, as only a mother can, `I’m very, very disappointed.'" Also said she was consulted on this, as was rest of Bears board
— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) January 10, 2022
Guys it’s all good. We got TWO “very’s” from Virginia. This time they mean business pic.twitter.com/d9XP192yxj
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) January 10, 2022
Virginia McCaskey in 2015: "She's pissed off."
2022: "I am very disappointed."Progress?
— Bret Buganski (@Bret_Buganski) January 10, 2022
beautiful alley oop here– pic.twitter.com/d0gcu8mNmd
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) January 10, 2022
Perhaps driving home that McCaskey doesn’t even realize how out of touch he sounds and how overmatched he seems, the chairman reiterated that he is “just a fan, I’m not a football evaluator.” That would be all well and good but how can you be the person who decides who the general manager is and also claim to not know anything about football?
Bears owner George McCaskey was asked about QB Justin Fields and began his answer with, "I'm just a fan; I'm not a football evaluator…"
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) January 10, 2022
"I'm just a fan, not a football evaluator"
– this was literally just said by George McCaskey, who is the chairman of the FREAKING CHICAGO BEARS
— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) January 10, 2022
"I'm just a fan, not a football evaluator." — George McCaskey
The guy who is picking the GM and who the GM will report directly to
— Lorin Cox (@CoxSports1) January 10, 2022
#Bears chairman George McCaskey: “I’m just a fan, I’m not a football evaluator.”
Also George McCaskey: "The decision on the hiring ultimately is mine."
— Sean Hammond (@sean_hammond) January 10, 2022
Before ending his press conference, McCaskey took time to throw shade at longtime Bears star and current radio host Olin Kreutz over his claim that the team offered him a $15-an-hour assistant job, essentially calling the former player a liar.
George McCaskey on @olin_kreutz sharing story that #Bears offered him a $15-an-hour job in 2018:
"I've learned over the years to take anything Olin says with a grain of salt."
McCaskey added, "You don't get the whole story" with Kreutz.
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) January 10, 2022
This is quite literally the LAST person I'd want to piss off. To question Olin's integrity is the absolute wildest thing a human can do.
George McCaskey is a loon for this one, I'll tell ya. https://t.co/raMHcj4aQ7
— Shane Riordan (@shane_riordan) January 10, 2022
I also believe that George McCaskey's answer to the question on Olin Kreutz's story on being offered $15 an hour to coach the O-Line was very bad. That's a very respected member of the team's alumni and it came off poorly. https://t.co/es07PmqxBB
— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) January 10, 2022
Kreutz himself responded to McCaskey’s words, saying it was a “crazy response.”
Unreal but i can’t say I’m shocked is my response Haven’t talk to George since i left Halas but he knows me well . Crazy response by him
— Olin kreutz (@olin_kreutz) January 10, 2022
If Bears fans were hoping to come away from the press conference with any hope or clarity about the future of the Chicago Bears, that clearly did not happen. And while they might still make a splashy hire at the head coach position that gets people excited, it doesn’t appear that many fans are holding their breath.
I had four and a half hours of #Bears optimism.
That was nice.
— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein) January 10, 2022
I know George McCaskey thinks he’s doing himself a favor by repeatedly stating he doesn’t want to be involved with football decisions or evaluations but… It’s a really bad look. #Bears
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) January 10, 2022
Another shoutout to Bill Polian’s book by George McCaskey.
So, if you’re looking to be a consultant for a Bears coaching/GM search in the next decade, write a book.
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) January 10, 2022
This George McCaskey press conference is a strong example of how to ruin any traces of Bears fan optimism
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) January 10, 2022
The McCaskeys are a great example of why Logan Roy is terrified of giving the company to one of his kids
— Jay Rigdon (@jayrigdon5) January 10, 2022
I’ve quickly been reminded why George McCaskey only speaks once a year… #Bears
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) January 10, 2022
So the last hour was basically George McCaskey saying his mom still wants him to run the team, he trusts Ted Phillips implicitly, he's read Bill Polian's book, thinks Olin Kreutz is a liar and he's never heard of https://t.co/Mm89QgcIA5.
Your Chicago Bears, everyone!
— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) January 10, 2022
If you locked a group of brilliant-minded, super genius-level scientists into a giant laboratory with no expenses spared and asked them to create the worst possible person to be put in charge of hiring an NFL general manager and an NFL head coach they're creating George McCaskey.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 10, 2022
George McCaskey has accomplished what I thought was impossible. He has sunk to a new low. This is as embarrassing a presentation as I have ever seen. And for him to rip Olin Kreutz and to call him a liar? George, you should be ashamed of yourself. Pathetic is being kind.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) January 10, 2022
Well, good luck with all that, Bears fans…
