Did Ryan Pace leak this to save job with Chicago Bears?

The Chicago Bears have yet to make a decision on Matt Nagy, mainly because they have yet to make a decision on his boss. Ryan Pace waits first because the Bears cannot let Pace fire and hire the next coach if he is going to get fired.

The fact that there have not been rumors around Pace nearly as heavy as Nagy suggests that there is a stronger chance that he finds himself keeping his job in a few weeks than Nagy. While he did not come out and release a report it was interesting timing that Hub Arkush took to the radio and dropped a nugget that not many knew about Pace dating back to 2015.

Sure, Dan Quinn wound up getting fired, but in 2016 he took Atlanta to a Super Bowl. Now, in 2021 he is leading a Cowboys defense that went from bottom five to top five in one season, and all of a sudden his name is hot in coaching searches once again.

This would make sense for Pace to leak this now for two reasons. One, he is saying that John Fox is not his fault. He may admit a mistake on Matt Nagy as he did with Mitch Trubisky. However, by saying this he is saying he should get a second coaching shot because Fox was not his. He got a second shot with Justin Fields at quarterback and so far that looks good.

Beyond that, Quinn is a hot name for a head coaching spot, and Pace throwing his name out there could lend to the idea that he would best serve on the payroll, and help get interviews such as Quinn.

Pace is flashing that he has a relationship with Quinn, who won the NFC as a head coach and is thriving as a defensive coordinator. Quinn was a hot defensive coordinator in 2014 with Seattle as well which led to his first hiring.

There is little other reason for this to come out right now. If Quinn to Chicago rumors starts to heat up you have to wonder if Pace is keeping his job.