Kevin Warren Back on Familiar Footing

Kevin Warren's NFL experience makes a return to the league as Bears president an easy transition.

Kevin Warren will be in charge of the Chicago Bears, of this there can be little doubt.

At least he will be in early spring, possibly in April when he is finished with Big Ten responsibilities.

This much was made clear Tuesday at Halas Hall when the new president and CEO of the team was introduced at a press conference as Ted Phillips' replacement.

"Well, the whole idea is to have fresh and new ideas," Bears board chairman George McCaskey said. "But I don't think he feels differently than the rest of the people in this building. We all want to win. We want championships. Kevin mentioned it half a dozen times if he mentioned it once. We want more trophies in the lobby. We want to bring championships to Bears fans."

McCaskey made it official and said Warren will be in charge of both the business end and the football side of the Bears operation. This means he'll be working on everything from getting a new stadium in Arlington Heights to overseeing GM Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus.

"Kevin's experience as a player agent, as a lawyer in private practice, as an executive with three NFL clubs, and as Big Ten commissioner has prepared him for this moment and we have complete confidence in him to lead this franchise back to greatness," McCaskey said. "It's clear to me that given Kevin's experience with NFL clubs, and his interraction with their football operations, we should return to having the general manager report report to the president and CEO."

Warren called his third stint with an NFC North team a perfect fit, and exactly the kind of challenge and opportunity he wanted after putting the Big Ten in a place where it is now better than when he took over three years ago.

"This is a special time in the NFL but most of all it's a special time for the Chicago Bears," he said. "Everything is ahead of us. All we need to do now is go and grasp it, put in the time and energy and effort.

"This is the best NFL football city in the country. We have the best ownership, phenomenal leadership, good, young talented players, the best fans, phenomenal alumni, 30 people in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's all here. And I am so excited, I'm honored, I'm humbled to be able to come to work here each and every day."

McCaskey began the search for Phillips' successor this past summer and they interviewed 20 candidates.

McCaskey had changed the organizational structure in January after the announcement that former GM Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy had been fired. He switched it so new GM Ryan Poles would report directly to him, and on Tuesday explained the flip back.

"Ted had told me about his intention to retire and we just felt with all that he was taking on with the stadium and so forth and his impending retirement, that it was best to have the general manager report to me," McCaskey said. "When we assessed Kevin's strengths as an executive, it just made perfect sense to me to go back to the general manager reporting to the president and CEO."

As current Big Ten commissioner, and a past executive with the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams, there can be little doubt about the football expertise Warren has to oversee Poles and Eberflus.

"So many times, people in organizations don't want to talk about winning a championship," Warren said. "I want to talk about it, but not only talk about it, but then put in the work to be able to do what we need to do to win a championship.

"All you have to do is look at the playoffs. It's wide open. Especially in the NFC, anyone can win. And so I'm a big believer that we need to continually build upon the base that Ryan and coach have built, with the players and the approach and the scouting to do it the right way. I'm not interested in building something that lasts for a year then goes away. I want to have sustainability from a long-term standpoint and then from a business operational standpoint, just to look for efficiencies, continually create ideas and ways, be innovative, have vision, and be fearless."

Poles said he has no problems with the way the organization has been changed only a year into his time with the team, and called Warren a constant source of inspiration.

"For me with Kevin, I'm fired up about it," Poles said. "I'm eexcited. You can tell just in the room and in the building the amount of energy that he brings, for him to be a resource for me from his experience in Minnesota and with different teams is going to be huge for me."

Heading up Halas Hall is a reversal of sorts for Warren. His first association with the NFL came as a player agent and his first client was former Bear Chris Zorich while he negotiated with Phillips.

Much has followed since then.

"Chris was my first client and for the first year was my only client, which afforded me the opportunity to really learn and understand truly what the Chicago Bears stands for and what it means," Warren said.

Warren also has another association already with the team. He was commissioner in the Big Ten when Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields led a movement to get him to reinstate football during the pandemic.

"If I had been (playing) in the Big Ten at that time, I would've done the same thing," Warren said. "What that told me about Justin is that he’s passionate. My whole goal was trying to keep players safe. I appreciated him being able to take that leadership role.

"I called him on draft day and I was ecstatic that he got drafted by the Bears because that's what you need from a leadership standpoint. But I have a strong personal relationship with him. He's talented. He's a leader. I loved his passion."

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