Why Byron Leftwich should be the next Bears Head Coach

In 1981 Andrew McKenna was on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Cubs. He used a fascinating profile to identify Dallas Green as the best candidate for the Cubs to hire as their general manager. Since that time I have used this same profile to identify the best possible sports management candidates for other openings in Chicago sports. My first foray into this was identifying Mike Ditka as the best candidate for the Bears.

Ditka was an ideal candidate as he won a championship as a player in 1963 with the Bears and as a coach in 1977 with the Cowboys. In the middle of the Bears 1981 season, I sent a letter to the Bears with my reasons why they should fire Neil Armstrong and replace him with Mike Ditka. Ironically, after the Bears did fire Armstrong, Ditka sent a letter to George Halas explaining why he should be the Bears’ next head coach.

Byron Leftwich is the top head coach candidate for the Chicago Bears

The essence of McKenna’s profile is to identify candidates who have been on championship teams as either a player or coach. It also includes coaching or managing in the minor leagues on a championship team. The Ideal candidate has been both a player and a coach on championship teams. Choosing Ditka was a good start using this profile. My next attempt at this was to identify Phil Jackson as the best candidate for the Bulls head coaching job.

When I did my research on who should be the Bulls head coach, the team hired Doug Collins as their head coach. However, they did hire Phil Jackson as an assistant coach. When the Bulls fired Collins a few seasons later, they replaced him with Phil Jackson. Phil is the best example of the value of this profile. After he won two championships as an NBA player, he also led the Albany Patroons of the CBA to a league title in 1984. He later went on to win 11 championships as an NBA head coach.