Chicago Bears: The ‘Hermit of Halas Hall’ must stop hiding

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace has spent his entire tenure hiding from the media, but now, more than ever, he should come out and face the music or lose whatever little credibility he has left.

Pace is currently in his seventh season and heading into a Thanksgiving matchup against the Detroit Lions sits 45-61.

While his team has made the playoffs three times in those seven years, they have failed to secure a postseason win and realistically the last two playoff appearances were gifts.

Beyond that, a few nice late round picks and drafting Justin Fields, his time with the Bears has been a disaster. His mismanagement of the salary cap has been an embarrassment. He has continued to overpay for veteran free agents and mortgaged future picks for mediocre results.

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace, A.K.A. “The Hermit of Halas Hall” needs to face the music.

While we can recount all of his “misses” the one that currently has him in the crosshairs is his most recent selection for head coach, Matt Nagy.

The Chicago Bears fan base is currently out for blood, orchestrating “Fire Nagy” chants at Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens and at a recent Chicago Bulls home game.

Look, yours truly certainly has not been a Nagy supporter recently, and although his press conferences routinely devolve into gobbledygook, at least he’s present each week facing the music which is more than you can say for the coward who hired him.

Instead of meeting with the media to answer for the poor roster construction, or his failures in hiring the right head coach, Pace hides within the comforts of Halas Hall where he’s already begun distancing himself from the head coach he hand selected.

Instead of holding himself accountable, he’s orchestrating a campaign behind the scenes to have his media henchmen paint him in a favorable light. Whether it was the absurd premise of Ian Rapoport’s piece that Justin Fields’ development has gone exactly as they had hoped, or Tony Romo’s obvious attempt to pump up his buddy on Sunday’s broadcast, Pace’s efforts are shameful.

From the time he hired Nagy he has tied himself to the first time head coach, purporting to be in lock-step with him. Yet when “the bullets start flying” so to speak, Pace has chose to use Nagy as a human shield.

The head coach should not have to answer for why Kindle Vildor is the second-best cornerback on the roster, or why Jimmy Graham was brought back this year for an exorbitant amount of money, or why the team lacks quality depth at almost every position.

And yet he does, without exception and without throwing Pace under the bus as Pace has chosen to do to him.

You can say what you want about Nagy and his head coaching abilities, but at least he’s a stand up guy who’s taken the heat for things that are beyond his control which is more than we can say for the “Hermit of Halas Hall,” Ryan Pace.

This is important context to remember as the Bears decide whether to retain Pace beyond this year. Character matters and Pace sure seems to be lacking it in this regard.