Michael McCaskey did nothing and said nothing Monday he hasn’t said before. He only wants Bears fans to think so.
He fired his coach and told his personnel man to make a list. Beenthere, done that. He fired Mike Ditka and told Bill Tobin to make a list. Tobin put his brother Vince on it, and McCaskey didn’t like the list.
Dave Wannstedt and Bill Tobin didn’t get along, so Tobin was out as personnel man and Rod Graves was in. Graves didn’t pan out, so Mark Hatley was in. Now it’s Wannstedt’s fault. Next year Hatley’s contract runs out. A pattern is developing.
The Bears lurch toward the 21st Century like an old pickup truck with a failing clutch. The lingering Monday memory was McCaskey driving away from Halas Hall at noon, headed for a ski vacation, his duties done, leaving his employees and ex-employees with heads spinning.
“I would like to take responsibility and my share of the blame,” McCaskey said.
Elaborating, he referred to the “talent level that has deteriorated over the years.”
McCaskey said he addressed that in hiring Hatley, who had no official idea until Monday morning his job would include screening coaches. Two weeks ago Hatley said Wannstedt should be retained. He told McCaskey Monday there was no guarantee he could find anybody any better.
What Hatley is supposed to be doing is finding players. Now, as the bowl games and scouting combines and draft process and free-agent evaluations loom, Hatley must veer in another direction.
“There’s just going to be more late nights of tape and stuff. I’m not going to let up on the personnel part of it,” Hatley said.
While you’re at it, Mark, how are things going with the new stadium?
Does this sudden change of duty mean Hatley’s role and responsibility is changing?
“Not at this point,” McCaskey said.
McCaskey thinks he has his cake and can eat it too. While people all around him advocate hiring a general manager, McCaskey believes he already has one in Hatley, minus the title, the job description, the power and the salary. Just do the dirty work and let McCaskey tell the fans: “Today is a signal of our renewal to those fans that we will do everything we can to put a winning team on the field.”
The loud and clear signal is a bright red light, soon to be a big white flag. Nothing has changed.
“It always starts at the top,” said Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green, who survived a change in ownership to take his team to a 15-1 record this season.
This is not about Hatley’s qualifications to seek a coach. He knows the football business. He has been around successful coaches. He has contacts. For all Chicago knows, Hatley is a budding Ron Wolf or Bill Polian or George Young.
This is about organizational structure and chain of command.
“I came in here to do personnel and that’s all my role is,” Hatley said.
Until Monday, personnel didn’t include coaching.
“Give Mark time; he’s good,” Wannstedt said, returning Hatley’s compliment.
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He’ll have to be better than good. He’ll have to be a magician. He’ll have to quit sleeping. He’ll have to find a coach who wants to work for … for whom? For a personnel man with one year left on his contract? For a president and CEO who fires the coach and leaves town?
Bill Parcells is not likely to apply, so that will save time. Cross out Mike Holmgren, Marty Schottenheimer, anybody who wants to pick his own players.
“The thing that worries you the most in this business when you get a new head coach and a new staff and start making personnel decisions, you make mistakes,” Hatley said. “You have to make sure that doesn’t happen. You have a lot more different opinions coming in.”
If it’s worrying Hatley, it should worry Bears fans, who have one chance: The Bears will have to get a whole lot luckier picking a coach than they have been picking a quarterback.