Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace Have McCaskeys' Support

Bears board chairman George McCaskey calls his mother "disappointed" over the 8-8 season but all support is still with Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy on the team's direction

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – As the Marc Trestman coaching era ended in 2014, Chicago Bears board chairman George McCaskey said of his mother Virginia, "she's pissed off."

From that standpoint, Bears coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace are still on decent footing because McCaskey on Tuesday said his 96-year-old mother, the team matriarch, is merely "disappointed" following an 8-8 season.

McCaskey said expectation probably heightened the disappointment.

"Like all Bears fans, she's disappointed," George McCaskey said. "The hope was there. The Bears were back. And then to take a step back was especially disappointing. And she feels it, like all Bears fans do."

The team held a three-day convention with former and current Bears and generated tons of offseason enthusiasm on the heels of a division title. Then the offense collapsed and injuries took down their defense as they finished third in the NFC North.

In fact, it was McCaskey himself who generated some of the anticipation for the season when he brought up the Super Bowl was going to be played on George Halas' birthday.

"You know, we talked a lot about because the 2018 season kind of set the stage, wouldn't it be wonderful in our centennial season, on George Halas' birthday, to win the Super Bowl?" McCaskey acknowledged. "And it didn't work out. Everybody knows winning the Super Bowl in any season under any circumstances is special."

McCaskey likes to say he doesn't get involved in the every day affairs of running the team, which is left to GM Ryan Pace or coach Matt Nagy. However, he is in lock step with both on quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

"I think everyone progresses at a different rate, and I think when Ryan drafted Mitch, we all knew he had only year as a starting quarterback in college and then after Matt came in, that was another year prior to that that he had a different offensive system," McCaskey said. "So I think now with Matt facing adversity he did this past year, that between he and his staff and Mitch having the adversity he faced, that they're going to be able to kind of rally and get the best out of them that we can this year. I'm confident of that."

Chicago Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips took the same approach toward Trubisky.

“I think everyone progresses at a different rate, and I think when Ryan drafted Mitch we all knew he had only year as a starting quarterback in college and then after Matt came in, that was another year prior to that that he had a different offensive system," Phillips said. "So I think now with Matt facing adversity he did this past year, that between he and his staff and Mitch having the adversity he faced, that they’re going to be able to kind of rally and get the best out of them that we can this year. I’m confident of that.”

McCaskey isn't going to join in on pressuring Pace over the quarterback situation or any of his decisions anyway.

"That's all up to Ryan and Matt and their staffs," McCaskey said. "He made the good point that different quarterbacks develop at different paces and under different circumstances. We need to look at the most that we can do. What can we do better to help our quarterback develop?"

When it was pointed out Pace's decision making is part of evaluating him for future contracts, McCaskey still came down behind his GM.

"Yeah, that's part of it," he said. "In 2018 Ryan was executive of the year. That's part of the evaluation process. But it's the entirety of the record. It's not one particular decision."

McCaskey admires Pace's level demeanor.

"I've told you folks before, I'm not a patient person," McCaskey said. "That's where it's really helpful to have Ryan. He talks about not getting too high or too low, trying to keep an even keel.

"That's important for me to remember because I react like a fan. That's no way to run a football team."

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