Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2017 10:22:26 GMT -6
Column: In need of complete culture change, Bears must find their John McDonough
Mike MulliganMike MulliganChicago Tribune
Link: www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-john-mcdonough-mulligan-20172019-story.html
There’s a uniformity to the constant change at Halas Hall, and we’re not talking about players in navy blue.
The dress code for leaders in Lake Forest seems to include red noses, fright wigs and oversized shoes. The public imagines George, Ted, Ryan and Foxy pulling up in a car, hopping out and chasing one another around with soda bottles, confetti buckets and the occasional whipped-cream pie. Let’s get to work, guys.
Strike that. Nobody in town really thinks about any of those guys. Worse than being Bozo, Ronald, Krusty and Pennywise, the Bears and their leaders are pretty much irrelevant. Fan hostility and contempt has given way to apathy and indifference.
The Bears have staggered from wretched season to wretched season for so long now, they appear to be in the crisis known as not remotely pertinent.
Go ahead and fire coach John Fox (yawn). Hold a news conference where the general manager says he has heard the fans’ voices (ho-hum). Promise that the team never again will be picking as high as it will in this draft (snore).
Not since Santa Claus had his sleigh grounded in the movie “Elf” have we seen this kind of collective civic disbelief. Leave it to the Bears to create a new concept called Football Atheism.
Hosting the winless Browns on Christmas Eve at Soldier Field would give anyone the holiday blues. It’s a game only the most ardent fans will attend.
The only interesting storyline is that the Browns last won a game a year ago on Christmas Eve. They beat the Chargers 20-17 as the Chargers missed a potential tying field goal as time expired. It ended a 17-game losing streak dating to 2015, when Johnny Manziel was the starting quarterback.
The starter for last year’s victory was Robert Griffin III, who left with a concussion late in the game and was replaced by Cody Kessler. The Chargers fired coach Mike McCoy after the season. It’s hard to imagine Fox saving his job with a victory over the Browns.
The Bears are nearly a touchdown favorite; however, they are 0-7 when favored to win in the Fox era.
The dream seems to be that a new coach with more competent play-calling ability will “fix” the Bears, develop Mitch Trubisky and lead them to a Rams-style revival next season. Ownership shouldn’t buy that fairy tale.
What the Bears need — immediately — is credibility. The best way to get it is through stability, consistency and the presence of a single, visible and viable leader. Team-think and uniformity of opinion through coalition-building isn’t the way to run a billion-dollar business.
Chairman George McCaskey needs to do what Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz did and find someone to change the culture of the entire organization. Wirtz famously invited then-Cubs executive John McDonough to Champps sports bar in Schaumburg in November 2007. They talked for hours, and Wirtz hired himself a leader.
McDonough has done enough in 10 years to earn himself a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame someday. McCaskey, a big Hawks fan, can bear witness. People around hockey envision McDonough someday taking over for Gary Bettman as NHL commissioner. But McDonough is a Chicago guy.
He began working as a sports executive with the Sting, spent 20 years with the Cubs and has thrived with the Hawks through a mantra of “Bring me greatness” that would be perfect for the Bears. Why not invite him for a meal in Schaumburg and find out what he thinks?
Football people will tell you it’s crazy to go outside the sport to find a leader. They will point to the Browns as a perfect example. Paul DePodesta, formerly general manager of the Dodgers and famous for his role with the A’s in the book “Moneyball,” holds the title of chief strategy officer with the Browns.
The strategy in question seems to be — with apologies to DeShone Kizer — acquiring draft picks and trading out of every opportunity to take a potential franchise quarterback. Maybe new GM John Dorsey can turn the first pick in 2018 and another top-10 pick — along with $117 million in salary-cap space — into a competitive team.
Regardless, a guy like McDonough wouldn’t be brought in to make the picks. He would be charged with assessing the people doing that, overseeing the organization and bringing the Bears to respectability.
Somebody make a reservation at Champps.
Mike Mulligan is a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune.
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2017, Chicago Tribune
Mike MulliganMike MulliganChicago Tribune
Link: www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-john-mcdonough-mulligan-20172019-story.html
There’s a uniformity to the constant change at Halas Hall, and we’re not talking about players in navy blue.
The dress code for leaders in Lake Forest seems to include red noses, fright wigs and oversized shoes. The public imagines George, Ted, Ryan and Foxy pulling up in a car, hopping out and chasing one another around with soda bottles, confetti buckets and the occasional whipped-cream pie. Let’s get to work, guys.
Strike that. Nobody in town really thinks about any of those guys. Worse than being Bozo, Ronald, Krusty and Pennywise, the Bears and their leaders are pretty much irrelevant. Fan hostility and contempt has given way to apathy and indifference.
The Bears have staggered from wretched season to wretched season for so long now, they appear to be in the crisis known as not remotely pertinent.
Go ahead and fire coach John Fox (yawn). Hold a news conference where the general manager says he has heard the fans’ voices (ho-hum). Promise that the team never again will be picking as high as it will in this draft (snore).
Not since Santa Claus had his sleigh grounded in the movie “Elf” have we seen this kind of collective civic disbelief. Leave it to the Bears to create a new concept called Football Atheism.
Hosting the winless Browns on Christmas Eve at Soldier Field would give anyone the holiday blues. It’s a game only the most ardent fans will attend.
The only interesting storyline is that the Browns last won a game a year ago on Christmas Eve. They beat the Chargers 20-17 as the Chargers missed a potential tying field goal as time expired. It ended a 17-game losing streak dating to 2015, when Johnny Manziel was the starting quarterback.
The starter for last year’s victory was Robert Griffin III, who left with a concussion late in the game and was replaced by Cody Kessler. The Chargers fired coach Mike McCoy after the season. It’s hard to imagine Fox saving his job with a victory over the Browns.
The Bears are nearly a touchdown favorite; however, they are 0-7 when favored to win in the Fox era.
The dream seems to be that a new coach with more competent play-calling ability will “fix” the Bears, develop Mitch Trubisky and lead them to a Rams-style revival next season. Ownership shouldn’t buy that fairy tale.
What the Bears need — immediately — is credibility. The best way to get it is through stability, consistency and the presence of a single, visible and viable leader. Team-think and uniformity of opinion through coalition-building isn’t the way to run a billion-dollar business.
Chairman George McCaskey needs to do what Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz did and find someone to change the culture of the entire organization. Wirtz famously invited then-Cubs executive John McDonough to Champps sports bar in Schaumburg in November 2007. They talked for hours, and Wirtz hired himself a leader.
McDonough has done enough in 10 years to earn himself a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame someday. McCaskey, a big Hawks fan, can bear witness. People around hockey envision McDonough someday taking over for Gary Bettman as NHL commissioner. But McDonough is a Chicago guy.
He began working as a sports executive with the Sting, spent 20 years with the Cubs and has thrived with the Hawks through a mantra of “Bring me greatness” that would be perfect for the Bears. Why not invite him for a meal in Schaumburg and find out what he thinks?
Football people will tell you it’s crazy to go outside the sport to find a leader. They will point to the Browns as a perfect example. Paul DePodesta, formerly general manager of the Dodgers and famous for his role with the A’s in the book “Moneyball,” holds the title of chief strategy officer with the Browns.
The strategy in question seems to be — with apologies to DeShone Kizer — acquiring draft picks and trading out of every opportunity to take a potential franchise quarterback. Maybe new GM John Dorsey can turn the first pick in 2018 and another top-10 pick — along with $117 million in salary-cap space — into a competitive team.
Regardless, a guy like McDonough wouldn’t be brought in to make the picks. He would be charged with assessing the people doing that, overseeing the organization and bringing the Bears to respectability.
Somebody make a reservation at Champps.
Mike Mulligan is a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune.
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2017, Chicago Tribune