What hiring Kevin Warren means for the Chicago Bears

The football perspective of the Chicago Bears hiring Kevin Warren

First things first: People will no doubt bring up the history between him and QB Justin Fields. When Warren, then Big Ten commissioner decided to cancel the 2020 season due to the pandemic, it was Fields, who started a petition to reverse his decision to postpone its 2020 season.

Is there bad blood that exists between the two that still linger on to this date that would hinder any future dealings?

Looks like time heals all wounds, so anyone trying to stir up something will likely end up in vain.

With Warren set to become the new President/CEO, many will probably wonder about the dynamics between him and GM Ryan Poles since he was hired by George McCaskey and reports directly to him. Poles will report to Warren when he takes over in April. Given that Warren did not hire Poles, it would be easy to assume Poles might be on a short leash.

There is a terrific article written by Adam Jahns from The Athletic about the relationship between him and former Vikings GM Rick Spielman and how they both operated internally. Based on the article, I do not see any warning signs that neither Warren nor Poles cannot co-exist.

Warren’s experience has always been either a business or legal matter when he worked for the St. Louis Rams from 1997-2001, and stints with NFC North rivaling organizations, the Detroit Lions from 2001-03, and the Minnesota Vikings from 2005-19. There is nothing that says he was directly involved in the personnel and scouting matters in both free agency and the NFL Draft.

He also once served as an agent for former Bear Chris Zorich when Warren started Kevin F. Warren & Associates, his own agency, and Zorich became his first client when Warren befriended Zorich while teaching a class at Notre Dame, where he attended their law school.

In fact, after coming off the worst season in franchise history, I do believe Warren is more motivated to support him to succeed. When he speaks next Tuesday, questions will be asked about why he took the Bears job and left the Big Ten after only three years and what he thought of the Bears organization when he worked for two rival organizations from the same division for almost two decades combined.

Having seen the Bears from the outside, perhaps he saw the Chicago Bears as an underachiever, who had the potential to succeed and the chartered franchise in the NFL deserved much more success but did not know how to reach that goal in his eyes. And for the team to succeed, they need to produce results on the field to match the shiny new stadium that the Bears will eventually move into.

With Warren at the helm now, Poles should know both the present and the future of the Bears-both the team, as well as his, is at stake this offseason.