Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2018 9:42:47 GMT -6
Bears Chairman George McCaskey has high hopes for Matt Nagy: 'Very confident leader, an innovator'
Colleen KaneColleen KaneContact ReporterChicago Tribune
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-george-mccaskey-matt-nagy-20180328-story.html
Bears Chairman George McCaskey sat with reporters in the Florida sun Wednesday afternoon and spoke of why he believes brighter days are ahead in Chicago.
The Bears went 5-11 last season and have just eight victories to their name over the last two years, but McCaskey pointed to new coach Matt Nagy as a reason for optimism.
Speaking on the final day of the NFL meetings at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, McCaskey said his trust in general manager Ryan Pace drives his trust that Nagy is the right man for the job.
“The biggest reason is because Ryan believes in him so strongly,” McCaskey said. “He’s just very impressive from the get-go. You've seen it already — very dynamic presence, very confident leader, an innovator. We're looking forward to him doing great things for the Bears.”
McCaskey addressed a wide range of other topics in the 22-minute interview. Here are more highlights.
• The Bears’ timetable for returning to a winning record for the first time since 2012 and the playoffs for the first time since 2010 isn’t clear, given the potential growing pains as a new coaching staff and second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky develop together.
McCaskey knows there’s a balance between desire to win and patience but he also didn’t back off his expectations.
“The goal every year is to win the Super Bowl,” McCaskey said. “You saw what happened with the Eagles last year. They came together. They got it done. It's something that we'd love to see, but we understand also that Matt will take time to grow into his role and finding the right composition of the team takes time.”
• McCaskey said he believes Pace has taken responsibility for the busted signing last year of quarterback Mike Glennon, who collected $18.5 million and made only four starts.
But McCaskey said they didn’t need to have a specific conversation about making better free-agent choices this year.
“Ryan knows what’s expected of him,” McCaskey said. “I’ve told Ryan over the years that eventually we should get to the point where we’re not very active in free agency. He should be criticized by the experts for not being more active in free agency because we’re developing our guys, rewarding our own guys.”
• McCaskey had high praise for Trubisky, saying he’s “so proud” to have him in a Bears uniform.
“He knows that a lot of people are counting on him,” McCaskey said. “He seems to be stepping into that role and handling it the way you would hope and expect him to.”
• The Bears are bringing back orange jerseys as their third option this season, and they’ll likely wear them for two games, with the dates to be announced.
“It’s what they call the alternate jersey, where they reverse everything out,” McCaskey said. “(It’s the one) we last wore six years ago and famously wore for Nathan Vasher’s 108-yard return, that jersey.”
• The Bears and the NFL are planning extensive celebrations of their 100th seasons for 2019, though neither was ready to unveil details Wednesday.
“Of course we want to celebrate our great past, but we don’t want it to be just that,” McCaskey said. “We want to look to the future and the next 100 years and how exciting that is going to be.”
• McCaskey hopes to host Brian Urlacher this season at Soldier Field to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction, perhaps for the presentation of his Hall of Fame ring.
• The NFL did not vote on a policy about whether players must stand on the sideline during the national anthem this week, instead focusing on the social justice initiatives that emerged from such discussions with players. McCaskey said he is excited about the funding of local initiatives.
McCaskey, Pace and former coach John Fox had spoken to the team during a September weekend when the issue came to a head because of comments from President Donald Trump, and the Bears locked arms on the sideline before the game against the Steelers. McCaskey said his stance hasn’t changed.
“We also said that we would support them, whatever they decided to do, and strongly encouraged them whatever they decided to do to do it together,” McCaskey said. ‘”And that’s what they did.”
• Bears owner Virginia McCaskey, 95, is a fan of the Loyola basketball team and their chaplain, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 98-year-old who has become an NCAA tournament celebrity.
George McCaskey said the family had a dinner planned around Loyola’s Elite Eight game time Saturday.
“I said, ‘Mom, dinner is at 5:30,’” George said. “And she said, ‘Hmmm, tipoff is at 6:09, so I think I’m going to get room service.”
• McCaskey was succinct in his comments about how the league’s new catch rule would apply to Zach Miller’s negated touchdown last season against the Saints.
“It was a catch under the old rule,” he said, “and it’s going to be a catch under the new one.”
ckane@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @chitribkane
Colleen KaneColleen KaneContact ReporterChicago Tribune
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-george-mccaskey-matt-nagy-20180328-story.html
Bears Chairman George McCaskey sat with reporters in the Florida sun Wednesday afternoon and spoke of why he believes brighter days are ahead in Chicago.
The Bears went 5-11 last season and have just eight victories to their name over the last two years, but McCaskey pointed to new coach Matt Nagy as a reason for optimism.
Speaking on the final day of the NFL meetings at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, McCaskey said his trust in general manager Ryan Pace drives his trust that Nagy is the right man for the job.
“The biggest reason is because Ryan believes in him so strongly,” McCaskey said. “He’s just very impressive from the get-go. You've seen it already — very dynamic presence, very confident leader, an innovator. We're looking forward to him doing great things for the Bears.”
McCaskey addressed a wide range of other topics in the 22-minute interview. Here are more highlights.
• The Bears’ timetable for returning to a winning record for the first time since 2012 and the playoffs for the first time since 2010 isn’t clear, given the potential growing pains as a new coaching staff and second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky develop together.
McCaskey knows there’s a balance between desire to win and patience but he also didn’t back off his expectations.
“The goal every year is to win the Super Bowl,” McCaskey said. “You saw what happened with the Eagles last year. They came together. They got it done. It's something that we'd love to see, but we understand also that Matt will take time to grow into his role and finding the right composition of the team takes time.”
• McCaskey said he believes Pace has taken responsibility for the busted signing last year of quarterback Mike Glennon, who collected $18.5 million and made only four starts.
But McCaskey said they didn’t need to have a specific conversation about making better free-agent choices this year.
“Ryan knows what’s expected of him,” McCaskey said. “I’ve told Ryan over the years that eventually we should get to the point where we’re not very active in free agency. He should be criticized by the experts for not being more active in free agency because we’re developing our guys, rewarding our own guys.”
• McCaskey had high praise for Trubisky, saying he’s “so proud” to have him in a Bears uniform.
“He knows that a lot of people are counting on him,” McCaskey said. “He seems to be stepping into that role and handling it the way you would hope and expect him to.”
• The Bears are bringing back orange jerseys as their third option this season, and they’ll likely wear them for two games, with the dates to be announced.
“It’s what they call the alternate jersey, where they reverse everything out,” McCaskey said. “(It’s the one) we last wore six years ago and famously wore for Nathan Vasher’s 108-yard return, that jersey.”
• The Bears and the NFL are planning extensive celebrations of their 100th seasons for 2019, though neither was ready to unveil details Wednesday.
“Of course we want to celebrate our great past, but we don’t want it to be just that,” McCaskey said. “We want to look to the future and the next 100 years and how exciting that is going to be.”
• McCaskey hopes to host Brian Urlacher this season at Soldier Field to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction, perhaps for the presentation of his Hall of Fame ring.
• The NFL did not vote on a policy about whether players must stand on the sideline during the national anthem this week, instead focusing on the social justice initiatives that emerged from such discussions with players. McCaskey said he is excited about the funding of local initiatives.
McCaskey, Pace and former coach John Fox had spoken to the team during a September weekend when the issue came to a head because of comments from President Donald Trump, and the Bears locked arms on the sideline before the game against the Steelers. McCaskey said his stance hasn’t changed.
“We also said that we would support them, whatever they decided to do, and strongly encouraged them whatever they decided to do to do it together,” McCaskey said. ‘”And that’s what they did.”
• Bears owner Virginia McCaskey, 95, is a fan of the Loyola basketball team and their chaplain, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 98-year-old who has become an NCAA tournament celebrity.
George McCaskey said the family had a dinner planned around Loyola’s Elite Eight game time Saturday.
“I said, ‘Mom, dinner is at 5:30,’” George said. “And she said, ‘Hmmm, tipoff is at 6:09, so I think I’m going to get room service.”
• McCaskey was succinct in his comments about how the league’s new catch rule would apply to Zach Miller’s negated touchdown last season against the Saints.
“It was a catch under the old rule,” he said, “and it’s going to be a catch under the new one.”
ckane@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @chitribkane
