The Chicago Bears using the word “collaborative” so much make it sound like Ryan Pace did not collaborate with John Fox.
In the Chicago Bears’ end of the season press conference, George McCaskey was grilled about his decision to keep things steady. When McCaskey was asked why he would feel confident in Ryan Pace to correct the quarterback position, when Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky, and Nick Foles were his recent decisions. McCaskey noted that he is excited about this being a “collaborative” effort between Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace and that them going through this process together gives him confidence.
This is a very telling sentence when you read into what he is saying. Think about it, they signed Nick Foles last year. That was a decision that Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace had a collaborative effort on. That is not what McCaskey is talking about.
When he is saying that there will be a collaborative effort, he is talking about when it comes to potentially drafting a quarterback. He is confirming that when Mitch Trubisky was drafted it was a Ryan Pace decision and Ryan Pace decision only. There was not a collaborative effort from the coaching staff.
Of course, it had long been rumored that Ryan Pace essentially shut John Fox out of the quarterback process. Today, you can say that it has been all but confirmed. McCaskey is admitting that his head coach and GM did not see eye to eye the last time that they drafted a quarterback. He believes that because of the disconnect, they struggled to get the proper evaluation.
Now, he believes that Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy are on the same page and that the process will be more smooth. Whether that is true or not is beyond the point. It is interesting that McCaskey is ok to admit that Pace did not agree with his head coach and went behind his back. He trusts that he will not do this to Nagy, but that is a damning statement in itself that may go overlooked.