Chicago Bears may let their next GM walk right out of Halas Hall
The Chicago Bears may let their next general manager get out of their building.
The Chicago Bears are in a bizarre predicament. They are getting ready for an opening-round playoff game against the New Orleans Saints, while simultaneously, fans and media alike are having discussions about whether their head coach and general manager will be fired at season’s end.
Initial reports seem to indicate that Matt Nagy is safe and will return in 2021. However, we have not heard any similar reports or reassurances regarding Ryan Pace’s job security. In fact, we have heard rumblings that the Bears may be looking to bring in Kansas City Chiefs’ Mike Borgonzi in an unspecified role. While the Bears may decide to bring in a new President and retain Pace, it would not be a surprise if he was let go considering his track record with evaluating quarterbacks.
If they did decide to go in a different direction there are many potential candidates to consider but perhaps the best one is right under their nose. Champ Kelly is currently the assistant director of player personnel. He previously served as the Bears’ director of pro scouting, and before that, he worked for the Denver Broncos’ organization in a variety of scouting and front office roles.
He has a very intriguing background, which includes a playing career for the University of Kentucky before becoming a software/quality engineer for IBM from 2002-05. His background uniquely positioned him to push the Bears to incorporate more analytics into its evaluation process, though as general manager he would likely push that even further.
Kelly has busted his tail to work himself up the ranks. Oftentimes people are promoted by default (e.g. the people ahead of them are promoted) or they leverage connections to advance. Kelly has relied on pure grit, hard work, and performance to work his way up from a player in the United Indoor Football league to being a favorite to land the Broncos’ recently vacated general manager position.
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The fact that John Elway, who recently vacated the general manager’s seat immediately sought out Kelly to bring him back to the organization should say a lot. If the Bears let Kelly out of the building, who is also garnering interest from the Carolina Panthers, they may come to regret it. Remember, they had the inside track on hiring Chris Ballard until they refused to give him autonomy over the decision to move on from Jay Cutler.