It’s Bears-Packers Week: BFD

If you’re familiar with the movie Groundhog Day, you are painfully aware of the character Ned Ryerson, aka Needlenose Ned, aka Ned the Head. Mr. Ryerson is George McCaskey for the purpose of this article, while Phil Connors, played by Bill Murray, represents all Bears fans. Which is appropriate, given Murray’s love for the Bears. Also, because Bears fans are stuck in a repetitive three-year cycle that never changes.

Since becoming chairman in 2011, McCaskey has run the Bears like he has no idea what football is. It’s almost hard to believe he shares DNA with George Halas. McCaskey’s track record is woefully unspectacular. Mind you, he stated that he feels “no particular need to place his stamp on the [team]” in his initial presser. He’s repeated that several times during his tenure as top executive. Yet here we are at the end of another disastrous season and on the cusp of overhauling the coaching staff.

• Lovie Smith was fired by McCaskey and Ted Phillips on December 31, 2012. The Bears missed the playoffs but finished 10-6 that season. GM Jerry Angelo was fired three days later. Smith was 81-63 (.563) as Chicago’s head coach, while Angelo was 95-81 (.540). Brian Urlacher was not offered a contract after the season and retired.
• Marc Trestman and Phil Emery replaced Smith and Angelo the following season. Trestman was 13-19 (.406) across two seasons with Jay Cutler starting at quarterback. Trestman and Emery were fired on December 29, 2014.
• John Fox and Ryan Pace replaced Trestman and Emery in 2015, and Ernie Accorsi led the search on behalf of McCaskey. Pace beat out Chris Ballard, Lake Dawson, and Vince Newsome to get the job. Pace passed on Dan Quinn to hire Fox. Neither Pace nor Fox were enamored with Cutler, who was released on March 9, 2017. Cutler was 51-51 as a starter and 1-1 in the playoffs. Pace traded up to draft Mitchell Trubisky but signed Mike Glennon to be the starter during Trubisky’s rookie season. Glennon lasted four games as QB1 before Trubisky took over. Pace fired Fox on January 1, 2018, after three years and a record of 14-34 (.292). Fox never won more than two consecutive games during his three years with the Bears.
• Matt Nagy was selected as the team’s new head coach after Pace interviewed Vic Fangio, George Edwards, Pat Shurmur, and John DeFillipo. Like Fox and Trestman, Nagy’s interview was the organization’s last during the hiring cycle. Nagy led the Bears to a 12-4 record during Trubisky’s sophomore season, but the Bears lost to the Eagles in the playoffs. The Bears regressed over the next two seasons, and Trubisky lost his starting position in 2020 to Nick Foles. Chicago finished 8-8 and lost to the Saints in the Wild Card round. Pace traded up to draft Justin Fields in 2021, but the Bears fell to 6-11, and Nagy and Pace were fired on January 10, 2022.
• The Bears Bill Polian and LaMar “Soup” Campbell to aid McCaskey, Phillips, and Tanesha Wade in their GM and head coaching search in 2021. Ryan Poles was hired after a two-week search process that included interviews with Glenn Cook, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Champ Kelly, Jeff Ireland, Monti Ossenfort, Joe Schoen, Ed Dodds, Eliot Wolf, Ran Carthon, Reggie McKenzie, Omar Khan and Morocco Brown. Poles’ interview was the final one scheduled by McCaskey and his team. Poles then selected Matt Eberflus as the 17th head coach of the team a couple of days later. The Bears once again passed on Quinn. Eberflus was 10-24 in his first two seasons but was kept even after the Bears traded Fields and drafted Caleb Williams. After a 4-2 start, Chicago lost 10 straight heading into Sunday’s game with the Packers. Eberflus was fired after a disaster in Detroit where poor clock management cost the Bears a potential Thanksgiving Day win. Thomas Brown was named interim coach. Eberflus finished 14-32 (.304) during his time with Chicago.
• The Bears are 3-20 against Green Bay since McCaskey became Chairman and have never beaten Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. McCaskey’s teams are 84-126 (.400) in that span, while Green Bay is 131-77-2 (.626). The Bears have lost 52 of the last 65 meetings between the two teams. That’s a robust .200 win percentage that is tainted with the blood of the McCaskey family, who have been in charge since Halas died in 1983.
• Chicago’s coaches since the McCaskeys took over are Mike Ditka, Dave Wannestedt, Dick Jauron, Smith, Trestman, Fox, Nagy, Eberflus, and Brown. The Bears have played in 23 playoff games, winning 10, including one Super Bowl championship and two NFC championships. Chicago is 353-342-0 (.508) since Ditka became coach but just 247-280 (.469) since he was fired after the ’92 season.
• During that time, Green Bay employed Forrest Gregg, Lindy Infante, Mike Holmgren, Ray Rhodes, Mike Sherman, Mike McCarthy, and LaFleur. The Packers are 24-21 in postseason games, including two Super Bowl wins and three NFC championships. The organization is 378-270-3 (.583) since the start of the 1984 season and 339-241-1 (.585) since Holmgren started coaching in 1992.

So it’s Packers Week again. Chicago will likely lose, finish with a top-10 draft pick, and enter the 2026 season with a new head coach and possibly a new GM. BFD. Same as it ever was.