Tony

The cowboys thing really is crazy. I don’t understand AT ALL what Jerry is trying to do. They were going to keep McCarthy, denied the Bears the interview request, then fired him. “America’s Team”, with an owner that craves attention and the spotlight…announces their new coach at 10pm ET on a Friday night? Why are you hiring a guy no one is excited for? Did he even have any interviews this cycle with any other teams? He didn’t even call plays last year lol. Like absolutely bizarre. Oh, and they brought in Flus as DC lol.

I think you’re just a little upset I’m better at this than a “professional” organization

They didn't want to "waste a year"

1. I'm not exactly sure what industry you are referring to, I'm assuming you mean other GM's in the league, and if that's the case....um, so what? And also...no you wouldn't. Using your logic, because Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams were here in 2005, they have earned lifetime contracts? They can never be fired? The architects of 2005 went 655-802 from 2011-2019. That should absolutely be enough to get canned, but because they won in 2005, they get to be here forever? 2. When Chris Getz, or any industry executive gets in front of a microphone, they aren't speaking to the media. They are speaking to the fans, the media are just the vehicle for that communication, and that role has been significantly diminished with social media and teams controlling more of their own messaging. The point is, there was, in my opinion, a failure to set fan expectation and made the job and mission more difficult for the White Sox. And could have been solved with a simple change in messaging. You are free to make any excuse you would like for Getz and the White Sox. "Yeah, but..." is very easy to do. I happen to believe organizational transparency is important and in most cases is well received. The original tweet of this thread, the quote from Getz..I think is the right message. I think he's getting better with quotes. I also believe saying "We're committed to building from the ground up" is a year too late.

“We have to make some adjustments to improve in 2024. … When I say I don’t like our team, we’ve got pieces that are talented and attractive and they can be part of a winning club, but obviously, we haven’t gone out there and performed. It’s not a well-rounded club right now. We have to find players to come in here and help get us in the right direction.” “Yeah, we’re going to have to create runs,” Getz said. “We’re putting a lot on Marcus Thames and our hitting coaches to get the most out of these guys. But most importantly, I think these players are ready to go. They know the adjustments they need to make. It’s going to be a battle out there. And we’re gonna push these guys and we’re going to do everything we can to score runs.” “The team does need to come together, they need to go out there and perform,” Getz said. “There’s no secret about that. But you know, that’s kind of the beauty of baseball, and there’s plenty of optimism going around with our club.” I certainly don't think they were as forthcoming and transparent as they could have been...

It's amazing how much damage Jerry caused from a PR perspective with his comments about "not wanting to waste a year" And while there are MANY things to be frustrated about regarding this organization, their continued lack of media training and strategy has always been maddening to me. To your point, they could have done themselves a lot of favors by coming out and saying "Listen, we had people here that quite frankly we're probably here too long. We can't do anything about that now, they're gone, and this isn't about putting a fresh coat of paint on things, this is about tearing it down to the studs and starting over. And I know Sox fans aren't going to love hearing that, I know the pain the fan base suffered through a rebuild that didn't result in what everyone wanted, but this organization needs an entirely new approach or we're going to all suffer similar results, and that's not acceptable to anyone. It's going to be painful, it's going to take time, but I am so committed to doing things the RIGHT way to build something that will have sustainable, long lasting success. It's all I care about." You say that out of the gate, you buy yourself A LOT of good will. But they went...a different route. And it's on THEM for that, not the fans.

Yeah, and with the media landscape today (that has changed A LOT in the last five years or so) we would have a pretty good idea if his reputation is inflated. When Waldron was hired, you had Seattle players going on podcasts saying "Yeah, good luck with that Chicago..." That clearly hasn't been the case with Johnson

Alright, I'm out on Johnson. f*** that guy 😂

We don’t really know what he wants. I assume he wants to call plays, but maybe he doesn’t? He also has to consider fit and what he sees as higher success rate. If he is a firm believer in Johnson and what the Bears will be, and he isn’t as high on Geno/Seattle, maybe he picks the Bears. Also, the ultimate variable of money.

Sign Hank Fraley to put the cherry on top.

There is going to be something VERY interesting to watch in training camp and throughout the season. The 2024 Bears wouldn't shut up in the media about wanting a coach that brought in more accountability, challenged the players more, etc. There were also multiple players that mentioned some members of the team being the last one in, first one out, etc. Names were never discussed or disclosed. I think Caleb was pretty fantastic in his media availability and seemed like the most mature player on the team most times, but I can't say I don't wonder if Caleb could be one of the guys that falls into that "last one in" category. I certainly hope that isn't the case, but in the article above, Goff talks about being a "mutt" and how much time they spent together just talking shop, offensive ideas, etc...I really hope Caleb takes that same approach.

Objectively, no one can really disagree with that statement. At this point, it's a simple faith based argument that you hope Poles has learned a lot in the last three years, and there is going to be A LOT of new voices in the room with Johnson, Allen, and the rest of the staff to help collaborate on the types of players they should be targeting. But there is very little evidence at this point to tell us Poles is the right guy for the job. Unfortunately, he has the job and it's simply hoping for the best right now. Ben Johnson coming in is a good start.

This isn't a bad take. We are happy, but they don't deserve extra credit for doing the obvious thing. We're conditioned for them to do the wrong thing, because we live in Chicago, but they did the right thing, and it's a good first step. But drafting Caleb and hiring Ben Johnson quite frankly is the easy part. They haven't shown us they can do the hard part.

If they can someone pull off Hank Fraley as OC…that would the cherry on top of a great coaching staff. I know he’s got a second interview in Seattle, and maybe he wants to call plays, but I sure hope BJ can pull it off. https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2025/1/20/24347699/detroit-lions-linemen-wont-let-coach-hank-fraley-go

Cliche to say, but the easiest way to set a good culture and be a “leader” is W’s. McVay isn’t nuts. Neither is Shannahan. Win, and the culture sets itself

Just had this conversation with my old man, who is very much a doubter when it comes to the Bears, understandably so. While I've gotten much closer to that approach over the years, you can still separate the two. If you have someone working under you and they make 5 mistakes in a row, when they do something right, I'm going to be happy, but it doesn't mean that one correct thing they did erases the 5 mistakes. When I heard the news and got hit with texts from friends, I was happy. I still am. Very happy the football team I root for made the decision I wanted all along. Smile on my face. I'm also not predicting they win 11 games next season because they hired Ben Johnson. They have a ton of work to do. And I'm probably not picking them to win 11 games next season, no matter what happens in the offseason or preseason. I need to see it on the field, for a while, before I "buy-in" because there is just too much history to tell us they'll find a way to screw it up.

I still would hate them taking one that early, but with two 2nd rounders, I wouldn't pitch a fit. Fix the trenches and everything becomes so much easier, and everyone gets a lot better.

Would be an insanely bad pick. Saw someone tweet during the Eagles/Rams game. Can't remember the exact wording, but the idea was: RB is a gasoline position. If you have a good OL and scheme, the fire is lit. But you can't expect the RB position to bring the matches and wood. A bad OL will put that fire out ASAP. The RB is the accelerator, can turn the campfire into a blaze. Meaning...they gotta fix the OL before they can think about spending real draft capital on the RB position. *I would also add I would guess BJ feels the same, would rather build out the OL first before getting the RB. The entire offensive won't work without an OL.

Big picture, the offensive needs to significantly improve. It won't take a year to see if Caleb is in good hands or not, or is there a large performance change that we can see. I say that because with the NFC North being an absolute force last season, so many weird things can happen, so I'm not ready to say "They have the make the playoffs or this is a bust." This is the hire they should have made. Brian Flores? Come on. They took a QB at No. 1 overall, and the offensive seemed broken many times this season. They need to fix that, and this was the best option available. And they got him. Now they need to find more talent for this roster, which is the harder part.

They did things the right way. Good for them. Now the hard part starts

Feels like if the money was the same, BJ would take the Raiders job because he gets to bring his GM, where it doesn’t seem like that option is going to be present with the Bears (which is incredibly dumb)

Could be a good sign?

I see it differently, and maybe I’m giving the Bears more credit than they deserve, but god help us if that’s the case. Reports have indicated early the interest on both sides with Johnson. I still contend that from an objective standpoint, the situation in Chicago is better than Vegas. I do think there would be concern inside HH that they don’t feel 100% comfortable with hiring an unproven candidate like Johnson, him suffering the same fate as Nagy, Eberflus, etc. Which would then shift to McCarthy. Not as exciting, and lower ceiling than Johnson, but higher floor, feels like you know what you’re getting. I know we aren’t inside the room, but I just don’t see any assistant being more attractive than Johnson. Doesn’t mean a guy like Monken can’t have success, but Johnson has been the No. 1 name out there for a while, and if they really do have interest in both McCarthy and Johnson, I don’t see them striking out on both. Option C of course is we have no idea what the hell is going on and they end up with David Shaw and believe they are smarter than everyone else, and we all suffer as a result.

Yeah, I heard the report yesterday that it sounds like McCarthy requested the in person, so I agree that it’s maybe less “intense” than I previously believed…but I still think he’s the favorite right now for a number of different reasons, and I agree with the sentiment that they are going to screw up this process in regards to Johnson. McCarthy won’t be a terrible hire, but it’s not the best they could do. Welcome to being a sports fan in Chicago.

But if you're basing your opinion on what has been reported, Russini (same outlet as Courtney) reported this on Jan 8th: Seemingly, that has held true for the first 10 interviews the Bears have completed, including candidates like Pete Carroll, who had nothing stopping him from meeting in person for the first round of interviews. What changed with McCarthy? This is his first interview with the Bears, yet he's the only one that has been flown in. That's not nothing.