The Dysfunction Continues Even Without John Fox
“There’s little doubt Ryan Pace will be ‘fired up’ when next he meets the media with another major announcement,” Barry Rozner writes for the Daily Herald.
The Bears’ general manager is always fired up.
At the John Fox news conference announcing the new coach, he was fired up. When he signed Mike Glennon for $18 million, he was fired up. And when the Bears approached the 2017 season with tremendous optimism, he was fired up.
After a 5-11 season, there’s little doubt he will be fired up about the future, just as he was after 2015 and 2016.
At 14-34 following three awful seasons, Pace must be the luckiest executive in Chicago sports history.
Pace has compiled the worst three-year stretch at the helm of the football operation since the late ’90s, when Michael McCaskey was overlord and de facto GM for player personnel director Mark Hatley, who never acquired the GM title.
Yet somehow Pace’s job seems safe – as do the jobs of team president Ted Phillips and team chairman George McCaskey.
I don’t ever want to hear the word “accountability” come out of any of their mouths.
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“In what could have been the final game for coach John Fox, who’s 14-34 in three seasons, the Bears didn’t cross midfield until the fourth quarter and totaled only 30 yards rushing. They were penalized 10 times for 116 yards and went 1-for-14 on third- and fourth-down conversions,” AP reports.
“Fox refused to address his status, leaving the podium in less than two minutes after a terse postgame news conference. The Bears are 1-5 against each of their three NFC North foes under Fox.
“‘I would love to have him back,’ wide receiver Josh Bellamy said. ‘I don’t feel like we’d get another coach that would be better.'”
Because any coach better than Fox would avoid the job like the plague or because you’re delusional?
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#Bears about to let the ball drop on John Fox. #HappyNewYears
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) December 31, 2017
John Fox won’t discuss his future with the #Bears or when he’ll talk to Ryan Pace. His news conference ended after two questions.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) December 31, 2017
John Fox refuses to take questions about his job status. He asked for questions about today’s game. Didn’t get any. Press conference over.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) December 31, 2017
John Fox’s final press conference as coach of the #Bears lasted 1 minute, 7 seconds, according to WGN-AM.
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) December 31, 2017
“I’m here, the league makes me be here … ” – Fox, refusing to answer questions about his future. #Bears
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) December 31, 2017
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Bears go an entire season without a win in their division for the first time since 1969.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) December 31, 2017
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#Bears That last red zone sequence is perfect epitaph for Fox and Loggains. Absolute incompetence.
— baldyjc (@baldyjc) December 31, 2017
4 chances from the 6-yard line. 0 snaps for Tarik Cohen. 0 targets for $6 million tight end Dion Sims. 0 touches for Jordan Howard. 0 plays with Mitch Trubisky moving the pocket. 0 points.
Your 2017 Chicago Bears
— Hepta sem fax (@tomazhs) January 1, 2018
I hope the next Bears coach doesn’t have any plays for Mitchell Trubisky to be a decoy as a wide receiver in the 4th quarter in the red zone
— Patrick Schmidt (@PatrickASchmidt) December 31, 2017
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Hub Arkush on The Score after the game complains that the Bears organization doesn’t get its due – it’s the league’s most historic franchise!
“This is as primo a job as you can find in the NFL,” he says. “Football-wise, it’s the No. 1 market.”
Oh, Hub. You, too, like the rest of the media, also escape accountability.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on January 1, 2018