The Chicago Bears might be continuing down the déjà vu trail with the head coaching hire.
Former Lions and Colts’ HC Jim Caldwell is in the Bears’ building today. Matching the experienced Caldwell with the upstart Ryan Poles is a gameplan that some around the league now believe the Bears easily could deploy.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 25, 2022
The Chicago Bears tried this same scenario when Pace was hired before the 2015 season. Bears ownership strongly encouraged Pace to hire veteran coach John Fox because they wanted to pair up a young general manager with a wise, experienced head coach to create a Super Bowl-winning roster.
Ryan Poles is an impressive hire and may prove to be the answer George McCaskey needs. The only word of caution is his resume is eerily similar to Ryan Pace’s when he was hired and if Jim Caldwell is the next head coach this could feel like deja vu all over again?
— Hub Arkush (@Hub_Arkush) January 25, 2022
There was even the picture of Pace and Fox smiling together after arriving at O’Hare International Airport after Pace flew out to hire Fox. Just a quick side note, we have another similarity with George McCaskey going to O’Hare to pick up Poles.
Pace and Fox instead went 14-34 in three seasons before Fox was fired and Pace was allowed to hire a coach of his choice. The Pace and Fox partnership did not work because it turns out the veteran coach and the young general manager had different ideas and never fully meshed on developing quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
There is a little bit of more of parallels to Pace. Pace wanted to hire Dan Quinn instead of Fox. Right now, Quinn just happens to be in the running for the Bears job again.