CHICAGO – Three years ago when the Bears made Ryan Pace the team’s general manager, there was one question at the top of mind for almost every single Bears fan.
Would Pace have complete control of the football operation?
Chairman of the Board George McCaskey answered emphatically that Pace would in fact be making all the football decisions for the Bears, and team President and CEO Ted Phillips jumped on board with that sentiment.
That felt really good to everyone in Bears Nation for about four or five days, and then the team hired John Fox to succeed Marc Trestman and nary a Bears fan or observer anywhere completely believed that Fox was Pace’s first choice.