I’m pretty sure we are familiar with the saying, “The Devil you know is better than the Devil you don’t.” Which most Bears fans would not agree is the case in the situation of Jerry Angelo being relieved of his duties around thirteen hours ago.
Though it could be the very truth when it comes to the Chicago Bears franchise future. I know many fans were not fond of Jerry Angelo. But one has to look at the situation at which the future General Manager will be walking into.
Mainly the case in point, that whoever receives the job offer will not be able to name his own coaching staff, and is already being told that if he wants the job, that the approach to the job is going to have to adjust his way working to cater to Lovie Smith. As Smith, has already been told that he is going to be keeping his job through the 2012 campaign.
This is where the good news begins to cease and bad news could potentially arise. Ted Phillips said something along the lines of this is a good job and we feel we should have no problem having any of the candidates accepting the job. This is where some should raise the questions.
Why in the world would any potential General Manager prospect elect to come here or envy any person that would take the job, even with the history that is the Chicago Bears? Every GM deserves to hire their “guy.” They should not be forced, nor be willing to accept the stipulation that they would not be able to choose their own coach to fit what they are willing to do. It handcuffs anything the potential GM would be looking to do. Just does not seem right now, does it?
But before the candidates are brought up, we have to realize that Jerry was not as bad as we all would like to believe. He was never a great high round picker (which is a need in the NFL to hit on in order to maintain success), but he made a few acquisitions that changed the course of this franchise for the better. Namely the trade for Jay Cutler and the signing of Julius Peppers. Though this is not about what Jerry accomplished, this is about the Post-Angelo area and the direction of the franchise now that he is gone.
There have been a flurry of names to start, only a few hours after the announced the firing of Jerry Angelo. The names that have been mentioned so far are Reggie McKenzie, John Dorsey, Marc Ross, Will Lewis, Les Snead, and Eric DeCosta
The one that obviously pops out right away is Eric DeCosta. Though he would’ve been nice to grab, he’s the heir to throne if you will in Baltimore, a team he has helped shape from the ground up. So one can understand why he would not want to leave. Will Lewis is interesting but would not be my first choice as the Seahawks have not exactly been the picture of success in recent seasons. Snead is another interesting candidate but I think he’s probably staying put at the moment. This brings the next two up on the list from the hated rival to the north, the Green Bay Packers. John Dorsey is a nice look, but I have a feeling he would staying. Another name to think about is Eliot Wolf, the 28 year old phenom, but he would be hard to drag away from the only team has worked for.
This leads to the final candidate and the one that may make the most sense in Reggie McKenzie. He has helped build the team from the ground up and is one of Ted Thompson’s right hand men in terms of talent evaluation (something said to be important for GMs, who knew?!). He also apparently has a documented history with Lovie Smith, which would ease the transition and may lead to continuity and Lovie ending up with real talent. So he would be my early favorite and I sincerely hope that he is the Bears plans, as early reports would indicate. The other candidate I like is Marc Ross as he helped build the Giants and they have a nice amount of young talent.
Whatever the case if this goes wrong, this could end being a very long rebuilding process and something I wish to not happen. McKenzie makes the most sense, but I’m hoping Ted Phillips has gotten more football smart or we may end up with a no name and this complete and utter rebuild in 2-3 years. Here’s to hoping the the devil we don’t know is better than the devil we do and the Bears get the right man for the job. This now being the case, be careful what you wish for, though the coming months should be much fun.
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