The Chicago Bears have found their new general manger: former Kansas City Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles. The team announced the hire Tuesday evening.
Poles has been with the Chiefs for more than a decade, and has helped build Kansas City into one of the best teams in the NFL. As Jones pointed out in his piece on the top GM candidates for 2022, Poles has played a large role in successful Chiefs drafts, and made the final four for the Carolina Panthers general manager position last year before ultimately being passed over for Scott Fitterer.
Poles will now turn his attention to Chicago’s coaching search. It appears the Bears have a list of finalists, as NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported on Monday that Chicago has requested second interviews with Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, former Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell and Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Per Schefter, some around the league believe the Bears favor Caldwell for the open position.
Poles will replace Ryan Pace, who was fired along with head coach Matt Nagy earlier this month. Pace joined the Bears in 2015 after spending over a decade with the New Orleans Saints as a scout and director of player personnel. Things did not go well in Chicago, however, as the Bears went 48-65 under Pace with just one winning season in seven years. He hired John Fox to be his first head coach, but he was fired after going 14-34 in three seasons. Nagy then replaced him, and went 34-31 in four seasons.
