Kevin Warren a Candidate with NFL Experience

Kevin Warren has been involved with midwestern NFL teams three times in the past and is a candidate to replace Bears CEO Ted Phillips, according to an ESPN report.

USA Today

As the days wind down in Ted Phillips time as Bears president and CEO, a name has surfaced as a potential replacement.

According to ESPN college insider Pete Thamel, Kevin Warren is a top candidate for the position Phillips has held since 1999.

Warren is the Big Ten commissioner and has been an NFL executive in the past. He was the Minnesota Vikings' chief operating officer.

The position does not oversee football operations but involves the business side of Bears operations.

The fact he had a big role in the Vikings getting U.S. Bank Stadium built is definitely a plus in Warren's favor because the Bears now are involved in finalizing the closing on the purchase of Arlington International Racecourse so they can build an indoor stadium.

The Bears, in early September, announced Phillips would be retiring after the season. He has been CEO since team owner Virginia McCaskey kicked her son, the late Michael McCaskey, upstairs following the botched attempt to hire Dave McGinnis as head coach after Dave Wannstedt had been fired.

Warren was with the Vikings from 2005-2019, serving as the chief operating officer from 2015-2019. He was executive vice president of legal affairs and chief administrator officer for the Vikings from 2005-14.

Prior to that Warren was with the Detroit Lions as senior vice president of business operations and general counsel from 2001-03 and started as an executive with the St. Louis Rams in 1997. He was VP of player programs and football legal counsel for the Rams until 1999 and in 2000 was Rams vice president of football administration.

The ESPN story said Warren has already interviewed for the job.

According to the new Bears organizational structure, the CEO does not oversee football operations in any way. Phillips is not GM Ryan Poles' boss. 

At the time the Bears fired Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace in January, board chairman George McCaskey announced the structure had been altered so that the GM answers directly to him. Phillips had been Pace's boss.

So Phillips' last involvement with football operations was being on the committee that interviewed Poles.

The Big Ten issued a statement regarding Warren’s status following the report.

“Over the course of three decades in professional and collegiate sports, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren regularly receives unique opportunities and requests for his expertise from leaders across a variety of industries ranging from professional sports ownership groups to private equity firms. The Commissioner utilizes each occurrence to listen, learn and assist every stakeholder in the most appropriate and effective manner. The Commissioner remains focused on the Big Ten Conference, its 14 member institutions and over 10,000 student-athletes in both regular season and postseason play.”

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