Everything We Know About New Bears GM Ryan Poles So Far
There he is. There is the man in charge of making the Bears into a competent franchise. Something that has been nearly impossible under the McCaskey leadership except for a few of the Lovie years. If you're like me then you didn't know jack shit about Ryan Poles a month ago and now that he has been hired we know only a little bit more. Here is the resume
1) He's big. 6'5 and formally over 300 lbs
2) Starting Left Tackle at Boston College when Matt Ryan was there
3) Signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent
Getty Images. Getty Images.4) Cut by the Bears after like a week
5) Started working for the Chiefs in 2009
That's it. That is basically all that is out there about this guy. Whispers about him being a rising star, smart, hard working, professional blah blah blah. NFL insider types saying it was a "great hire" and that he has been a finalist for other jobs the last two years. The Bears wanted him and they got him before the Vikings could interview him. He came from the Chiefs. How instrumental was he in building the team that hasn't had a losing season in like a decade? Who the fuck knows? Unless you're in the meetings it is impossible to know if he was one of the guys banging the drum for Mahomes pre-draft. Very hard to know if he was the guy who found Tyreek Hill and then also found like 3 carbon copies of Tyreek Hill. Nagy also came from the Chiefs. Just being around great people doesn't make you great. So let's look at the evidence we have so far
This is a guy who understands angles. As a guy with a double chin I know all about angles. You don't hold the camera level when you're taking a selfie video. Never EVER do that. You hold that thing as high as you can. Doesn't matter if it looks like a drone took the video as long as your neck fat is sufficiently covered.
You might look at the shirt with the collars flipping up and the tie a little loose and think "eh…this guy is a slob". No no no. That is a football guy. That is a working man. The knot looks great on the tie and he got the orange in there for team colors. Ryan Pace never had a hair out of place in a single picture. Ryan Poles doesn't have time for hair. Probably cuts it himself. Gets the clippers out and gives, throws the 3 guard on there, and gets it tight and trim. That is efficient. That gives you more time for scouting and roster construction. The "Bear Down" could've been a little more enthusiastic, but you gotta remember that this guy had just flown in (commercial), drove 45 mins with George, sat and listened to Polian sell him on Jim Caldwell, and then had to go through a bunch of paperwork. There is NOTHING worse than paperwork. You finally get the job and then they tell you to go see HR. Here's the handbook, here is the insurance policy, your 401k, your key fob, sign all these fucking documents, and by the end your eyes feel like their bleeding and then someone says hey do a video and say Bear Down. I get it. Hard to bring the noise on that. And…who says that is important. Be measured. Give the media and fans nothing. Just win. That formula has worked before
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Arriving pre-dawn on the coldest day of the year. First guy in (other than the social media person who had to film this). Possibly the last guy out (I'll report back if I hear something).
Love that he is a back in guy. I am not a back in guy. I will pull through when possible, but backing in takes extra effort. Poles is an extra effort guy. Backed in as the first car in the lot. Tone setter. Attention to detail.
I also like that he has a nice car. Is that borrowed? Company car? I don't know. It's nice though. After Pace had an infatuation with a guy for having a shitty car, it is nice to see that his replacement arrives in style.
Also…fail to plan, plan to fail. First day of work. Need to make a good first impression. Need the suit to be looking fresh. You bring the change of clothes with you and change in the office. I don't know why this is the case, but as soon as you sit in the car with your suit it gets wrinkled. Professional move to have it hanging in the back seat. Clark Kent changed out of his suit to become superman. Ryan Poles changes into it. Backpack, shoe bag, suit on a hanger, gym shoes and warm gear on. Didn't drop any of it. Didn't get road salt anywhere. One take. Comfortable in who he is. I like it.
Now let's see what he does and how much autonomy he has. The Bears doing the coaching search around Bill Polian and guys he knows from the Colts was a little, let's say disconcerting, but I am hopeful that Poles wouldn't allow an arranged marriage by a guy like Polian who has zero skin in the game long term.
\Anyways, it's a new day. A day to be blindly optimistic. I like days like that. We'll get more answers at his presser hopefully, but for now he is shiny and bright and hopefully a positive change.