The media attacks on GM Ryan Poles have intensified lately. It is apparent somebody inside Halas Hall believes he isn’t getting enough blame for the state the Chicago Bears are in. Matt Eberflus drew most of that heat. However, he’s gone now, and the team still looks terrible. They’ve lost seven in a row and are one more away from tying the second-longest streak in franchise history. Poles can’t duck responsibility for that, and it is clear somebody wants that known. Is it possible that team president Kevin Warren is that guy?
It seems rather unusual to suggest such a thing. Warren said at his recent presser that Poles was safe. The team planned for him to lead the charge on their next coaching search. However, indications from multiple insiders suggest he may have been bending the truthing more than a little. By far, the most interesting revelation came from Yahoo NFL insider Charles Robinson. He’s covered Warren for years, dating back to the early 2000s. From what he understands, the Bears president could be undertaking a major power grab.
“What I’ve always heard about Kevin Warren and I’ve heared consistently throughout his career, he is a guy who when he goes in, he tries to gather as much power up as he can and he tries to hold that power and he tries to wield that power.”
He has no interest in sharing power with Poles. Warren had no say in the GM’s hiring over two years ago. The results he’s seen since arriving in May of last year aren’t exactly encouraging. For somebody with the ego and ambition he has, it isn’t surprising he would work to assert more control of the franchise’s direction. Plenty of people are freaked out by that. To them, Warren is nothing but a lawyer with the personality of a politician. He hasn’t accomplished anything in Chicago to this point. The team sucks, and the new stadium isn’t anywhere close to construction.
Like it or not, the signs are growing. Kevin Warren has no intention of letting other people in that building ruin his vision for the organization. If that means launching a coup to marginalize Poles, so be it. The GM can either accept it or resign. Some believe the latter is becoming more likely by the day. Warren will bring in his own people, ones who don’t have a problem with him being the leading force in the building. Fans wanted a shakeup. Like it or not, it appears to be at hand.
