Due to my relationships within the Chicago Bears organization, I have essentially kept DBB out of the Team President hiring process. But here are a few thoughts:
- Ted Phillips has been planning this retirement for nearly two years. George McCaskey convinced him to stay on a bit longer than he originally intended as the Arlington Heights situation developed.
- Ted had zero interest in overseeing the move. For years Ted has been communicating the team’s concerns to the city re: Soldier Field and for years he’s been ignored. The city never believed the Bears would leave the lakefront. Now, they’re panicked and proposing billion dollars of renovations.
- George stating that Poles and Eberflus reported to him, and not Ted, was theatre. Ted was still running the building. George is the owner, but he doesn’t run anything. He’s a fan.
- Bears have not hidden their love for the ballpark the Vikings built, and that was a huge factor in the Warren hire. Warren was enthusiastic about the move in his interviews, understanding the financial ramifications of a new building on team property.
- At the onset of the process, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips was the front runner for the position, with many in the building seeing him as a foregone conclusion. But the Bears had a process and Warren emerged in that process.
