Chitownhustla Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 http://dawindycity.com/2015/01/05/report-c...eneral-manager/ Well.....it sounds like they have made up their mind. Did they really need Ernie? The guy spent 12 years with the Bears what could Ernie have told them they didn't already know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 http://dawindycity.com/2015/01/05/report-c...eneral-manager/ Well.....it sounds like they have made up their mind. Did they really need Ernie? The guy spent 12 years with the Bears what could Ernie have told them they didn't already know? Ernie job was to also tell them what they didn't know and what they didn't consider. Ballard is largely regarded as the top candidate out there. There are 3 GM positions available and he appears most interested in ours. I think that is fantastic. I also think this reports are a little premature. I think Ernie and the Bears brass talked, Ernie knows all of this candidates pretty much (and has interviewed most of them in the past so has a good idea either way). Probably said, I lean towards Ballard but I want you guys to meet these other guys, after we meet with everyone, we can finalize the decision. Happens all the time (both in the NFL and Business) and it isn't a bad thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 PS: I don't believe for a second we have offered the position. I think we have told him he is our preferred candidate, potentially or that has been leaked but offered, I doubt it. I do think, if the interview goes as planned (and it is probably more of a, we meet with others and we want to hear your thoughts...when it really is, we met with others and you are our guy). We will offer him the job tonight / tomorrow and the new GM will be in place very fast. To be frank, if this does happen, this is different than pretty much every other positional search I remember the Bears taking. Historically, we have been the anti-nimble organization when it comes to these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chitownhustla Posted January 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 PS: I don't believe for a second we have offered the position. I think we have told him he is our preferred candidate, potentially or that has been leaked but offered, I doubt it. I do think, if the interview goes as planned (and it is probably more of a, we meet with others and we want to hear your thoughts...when it really is, we met with others and you are our guy). We will offer him the job tonight / tomorrow and the new GM will be in place very fast. To be frank, if this does happen, this is different than pretty much every other positional search I remember the Bears taking. Historically, we have been the anti-nimble organization when it comes to these things. Just listened to the guy that hired Ballard to the Bears way back when. He thinks Ballard is a great hire. Spoke very highly of him A list of players Ballard helped bring into the Bears (not all of them) Forte Tillman Tommy Harris Vasher D Manning J Knox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Just listened to the guy that hired Ballard to the Bears way back when. He thinks Ballard is a great hire. Spoke very highly of him A list of players Ballard helped bring into the Bears (not all of them) Forte Tillman Tommy Harris Vasher D Manning J Knox Was that Greg Gabriel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackerDog Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Just listened to the guy that hired Ballard to the Bears way back when. He thinks Ballard is a great hire. I guess he also scouted Cedric Benson too. On the "bad" side of the ledger... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Luciano Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Was that Greg Gabriel? i listened to gabriel on the score last week talking about GM prospects. although he did endorse ballard it seemed to me there was some hesitation in his voice as he was doing so. it made me wonder. don't write that in stone, it was just my take on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chitownhustla Posted January 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Was that Greg Gabriel? Thats his name, I completely had a brain fart trying to remember it. He said he told JA early on that Ballard had IT and that he would one day be a GM. Talked about how he has coached and scouted and is well rounded. Also said that he thought Ballard wont take any job unless he is getting everything he wants. I hope Ballard wants total control and Ted Phillips out. If that's what Ballard wants and gets then I will be very happy. I still cant believe that EVERYONE you talk to or hear talk about the Bears thinks that Ted Phillips should not be involved in football operations. The Only people with faith in Ted is the McCaskeys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chitownhustla Posted January 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I guess he also scouted Cedric Benson too. On the "bad" side of the ledger... Benson had some good years in Cincy and even 1 or 2 in GB. HE had the talent, just didnt work here in Chi. The guy got his attitude right after Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Thats his name, I completely had a brain fart trying to remember it. He said he told JA early on that Ballard had IT and that he would one day be a GM. Talked about how he has coached and scouted and is well rounded. Also said that he thought Ballard wont take any job unless he is getting everything he wants. I hope Ballard wants total control and Ted Phillips out. If that's what Ballard wants and gets then I will be very happy. I still cant believe that EVERYONE you talk to or hear talk about the Bears thinks that Ted Phillips should not be involved in football operations. The Only people with faith in Ted is the McCaskeys. I think part of it is there is a disconnect between what the McCaskey's ask Ted to do and what the public asks him to do and the ownership group does a very poor job of communicating that, thus Phillips gets a lot of undo blame. Phillips, by all accounts, is very good from the business side, he just needs to stay on the business / financial side and away from football decisions which it appears is going to be the case by all accounts. I just don't think we will see the McCaskey's make some public scene about it. That isn't there way of handling things and it probably isn't the way you want to treat someone who, in there eyes, has been a very loyal and valuable employee (and you have to remember...this is the families livelihood and he has managed the economics of it extremely well in their eyes). By the way, thanks for sharing what GG said. Great to hear. His articles and insights are always really good, imo. He, along with Mannelly, seemed to have the best reports / scoops as to what was going on in the lockeroom with the Bears this past season and what was going wrong and why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Benson had some good years in Cincy and even 1 or 2 in GB. HE had the talent, just didnt work here in Chi. The guy got his attitude right after Chicago. Agree; His bigger whiffs were Mark Bradley (ACL injuries IIRC) and someone else I can't recall. All that said, you are going to have whiffs in the GM business, you just need to have more hits and preferably the occasional home run. They also gave him significant credit for some of the big free agent signings the Bears made in the Angelo era (i.e,. guys like Ruben Brown, etc that we added to our line which were low cost, big impact moves). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chitownhustla Posted January 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I think part of it is there is a disconnect between what the McCaskey's ask Ted to do and what the public asks him to do and the ownership group does a very poor job of communicating that, thus Phillips gets a lot of undo blame. Phillips, by all accounts, is very good from the business side, he just needs to stay on the business / financial side and away from football decisions which it appears is going to be the case by all accounts. I just don't think we will see the McCaskey's make some public scene about it. That isn't there way of handling things and it probably isn't the way you want to treat someone who, in there eyes, has been a very loyal and valuable employee (and you have to remember...this is the families livelihood and he has managed the economics of it extremely well in their eyes). By the way, thanks for sharing what GG said. Great to hear. His articles and insights are always really good, imo. He, along with Mannelly, seemed to have the best reports / scoops as to what was going on in the lockeroom with the Bears this past season and what was going wrong and why. I read an article stating that Ted Phillips signs off on all moves made. Lets review Teds moves: He hired JA not a total fail. But I do believe JA made some major mistakes the last 4 or 5 years. Should have been fired earlier. He agreed to give Lovie more control, which lead to some bad moves He hired Emery= total fail He signed off on Trestman = total fail He signed off on the Cutler contract= keeping Cutler was not a fail, just giving him that much money was fail If Ted had a clue these moves could have been changed. Had he not hired Emery this all could have been different. He is the CEO/ President of this team, the Bears record under him is 129-127. I really dont care what he does his record is terrible. It's all about winning, the Bears have not won enough under his watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I read an article stating that Ted Phillips signs off on all moves made. Lets review Teds moves: He hired JA not a total fail. But I do believe JA made some major mistakes the last 4 or 5 years. Should have been fired earlier. He agreed to give Lovie more control, which lead to some bad moves He hired Emery= total fail He signed off on Trestman = total fail He signed off on the Cutler contract= keeping Cutler was not a fail, just giving him that much money was fail If Ted had a clue these moves could have been changed. Had he not hired Emery this all could have been different. He is the CEO/ President of this team, the Bears record under him is 129-127. I really dont care what he does his record is terrible. It's all about winning, the Bears have not won enough under his watch. To be frank, the only one that you should blame him on in that list is Emery. He hired the football person and should have had better outside parties helping him and ownership in that process. Emery hired Trestman and Emery said the Cutler contract is the right deal. I don't want our ownership group or Ted Phillips telling our GM no on football related decisions. If you wanted him to veto the Trestman hire or the Cutler signing, that would be him interfering himself in football related decisions, which is exactly what we don't want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chitownhustla Posted January 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 To be frank, the only one that you should blame him on in that list is Emery. He hired the football person and should have had better outside parties helping him and ownership in that process. Emery hired Trestman and Emery said the Cutler contract is the right deal. I don't want our ownership group or Ted Phillips telling our GM no on football related decisions. If you wanted him to veto the Trestman hire or the Cutler signing, that would be him interfering himself in football related decisions, which is exactly what we don't want. He signs off on all of these moves. I dont want TED PHILLIPS interfering with these moves as he is not a Football guy, I would have NO problem with the right guy doing it. I know this is not possible but just think about this: Polian the CEO/President Do you think Polian hires Emery? Do you think Polian lets Emery hire Trestman? Do you think Polian lets Emery sign Cutler to this deal? Ted Phillips hiring Emery was a total fail, end of story. After that Ted signed off on all the moves he made, Ted not knowing shit about football is not the guy to be signing off on these moves. Ted Phillips does not have the Bears set up well, look at GB, BAL, NE and Pit, do you think these teams would need to hire Ernie to find a GM? The answer is no. Shit, BAL already had the next GM in line. Since we are not getting rid of Ted I want the next GM to have total control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackerDog Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Benson had some good years in Cincy and even 1 or 2 in GB. HE had the talent, just didnt work here in Chi. The guy got his attitude right after Chicago. No doubt he had talent. I'm just thinking about character. Not that you can always gather those things ahead of time but I'd like to see us draft a guy who doesn't cry when it happens. And then get into off field issues like Benson did. I was all for the Benson pick when it was made so I can't fault the pick, really. But unlike some here, I don't expect my picks to be as good as the "experts". I'd want our GM to know enough to avoid head-cases like CB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 No doubt he had talent. I'm just thinking about character. Not that you can always gather those things ahead of time but I'd like to see us draft a guy who doesn't cry when it happens. And then get into off field issues like Benson did. I was all for the Benson pick when it was made so I can't fault the pick, really. But unlike some here, I don't expect my picks to be as good as the "experts". I'd want our GM to know enough to avoid head-cases like CB. I think you have to do your homework and analysis, but you can't always predict correctly (but fully agree that they should have a better track record than you / I). Look at Aaron Hernandez and the Patriots. They are clearly experts and totally missed a murderer. I think the thing I like about someone like Ballard, not only can he spot talent, but he also can understand or at least have a better appreciation for what can be coached vs. what can't and i think his previous track record makes him a better candidate to be able to work well with coaches and be closer aligned. I think the best organizations have strong relationships throughout (especially that GM / HC relationship). The scouting and identifying talent is just one part of the job and Ballard seems to have a lot of the other intangibles (to go along with the ability to scout). I think it is in those intangibles that the Bears completely missed the boat in Emery / Trestman. In neither case were they incompetent people, they just lacked certain qualities necessary in being a head coach / GM. I don't question their overall football intelligence at all (although I do somewhat question Trestman's ability to adjust to the current NFL as the fact we couldn't find a way to beat a zone defense just baffled me). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger226 Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I think you have to do your homework and analysis, but you can't always predict correctly (but fully agree that they should have a better track record than you / I). Look at Aaron Hernandez and the Patriots. They are clearly experts and totally missed a murderer. I think the thing I like about someone like Ballard, not only can he spot talent, but he also can understand or at least have a better appreciation for what can be coached vs. what can't and i think his previous track record makes him a better candidate to be able to work well with coaches and be closer aligned. I think the best organizations have strong relationships throughout (especially that GM / HC relationship). The scouting and identifying talent is just one part of the job and Ballard seems to have a lot of the other intangibles (to go along with the ability to scout). I think it is in those intangibles that the Bears completely missed the boat in Emery / Trestman. In neither case were they incompetent people, they just lacked certain qualities necessary in being a head coach. I don't question their overall football intelligence at all (although I do somewhat question Trestman's ability to adjust to the current NFL as the fact we couldn't find a way to beat a zone defense just baffled me). After hearing everybody talk about Ballard on the Score today , he is sounding better to me, which I didnt want anybody that learned under Angelo. I think I would like it now to be the man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'TD' Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 After hearing everybody talk about Ballard on the Score today , he is sounding better to me, which I didnt want anybody that learned under Angelo. I think I would like it now to be the man. It's going to be impossible to sell me on Ballard. He worked with the 2 failed Bears GM's, has little experience in the front office, and the Bears had him pegged before even interviewing anyone. On a different not, Perry Fewell was released today. If Ballard is hired, I could see him suggesting Fewell to the new coach as DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatScott82 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 After doing some research, I am not as displeased on the thought of bringing in Ballard as I was. Aside from his former Bear relationships with both Angelo and Emery, Ballard seems to know his football and his scouting background is pretty impressive. This team needs to build a new foundation of talented youth. The ONLY way to do this is to have two to three straight NFL drafts of acquiring 4 to 5 solid NFL players. If Ballard can identify these players in the draft, he is the guy we need to run this team. Let the rebuild begin.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scs787 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 It's going to be impossible to sell me on Ballard. He worked with the 2 failed Bears GM's, has little experience in the front office, and the Bears had him pegged before even interviewing anyone. On a different not, Perry Fewell was released today. If Ballard is hired, I could see him suggesting Fewell to the new coach as DC. Do we even know the Bears have him pegged right now at all? From what I just read Ballards first interview is today, and he's the third guy to interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackerDog Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Do we even know the Bears have him pegged right now at all? From what I just read Ballards first interview is today, and he's the third guy to interview. The rumor is that he's their #1 going into the process. Talking heads on the radio have given him the job already but they're wrong as often as they're right. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Do we even know the Bears have him pegged right now at all? From what I just read Ballards first interview is today, and he's the third guy to interview. I think a lot of assumptions have been made by the media based upon the fact that he used to work here. I don't think the Bears had necessarily decided on anyone prior to, of course they might have had a lean and that usually is the case. We aren't talking about of unknown candidates that you have never met. I am directly involved in certain hiring decisions at my work and when I go through a stack of candidates, I typically have a lean to which ones I'm going to like more based upon that. Doesn't mean that is who I ultimately hire but you normally start an interview process with some form of a lean a certain direction (and that is if you don't know any of the candidates). In the case of a small league like the NFL, you already have heard quite a bit and might have met a lot of these people already or talked to people who have and thus are going to have a definite lean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I really like the fact that Ballard seems very decisive in terms of what he wants and he is not going to accept anything less than full control. I think he knows what he wants and his overall confidence is very valuable and much different from what some of our past candidates and GM's have had. We haven't had a guy come in and grab full control in an extremely long time. We know if Ballard gets the job, he's getting full control. That much is evident based upon the opportunities and situations he has turned his nose at (Philly / Jets this year; Tampa last year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ54 Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 I really like the fact that Ballard seems very decisive in terms of what he wants and he is not going to accept anything less than full control. I think he knows what he wants and his overall confidence is very valuable and much different from what some of our past candidates and GM's have had. We haven't had a guy come in and grab full control in an extremely long time. We know if Ballard gets the job, he's getting full control. That much is evident based upon the opportunities and situations he has turned his nose at (Philly / Jets this year; Tampa last year). That right there is the #1 reason to hire this guy. He backed off the Tampa job when Lovie came on board. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0107-story.html "He pulled out of consideration for the Buccaneers GM job last year with coach Lovie Smith coming aboard." http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10246329...ccaneers-roster "Lovie Smith's contract contains a clause that gives him final say over all personnel matters on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 53-man roster, according to league sources." He worked with Lovie and while I respect Lovie for being a good but not great coach, and I expect Ballard does too, things went downhill once Lovie got more control over personnel. Ballard saw that as it happened and he knew what working with Lovie was like as far as personnel selection and stayed away. Ballard knows what he wants in terms of control and he's definitely focused on that. That doesn't mean it will work out with the Bears giving him the job but I agree with DBDB; if he comes on board we know he's got the control he wanted. We also know he's a wise man who is not just looking to get the title, promotion, or big pay raise that sets him up for life. He wants to succeed as a GM, believes he knows how to do it, and is willing to wait for the right job to prove it. It's easy to find people in the first two categories but not the third. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 One sidenote, a lot of people think of Ballard and Toub, but Ballard also has ties to Bevell (Seattle OC) from his Wisconsin days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.