You are Kevin Warren: Do you Fire Ryan Poles?

[Magilla_Gorilla]

Man, context and nuance isn't really a thing around here lately.

Where was the context and nuance when Ryan Poles confidently stated “we’re going to take back the North and we’re not giving it back”?

In sports you live and die by how you perform against expectations. He shouldn’t proclaim such things if he’s going to do the exact opposite.

Before Poles, the last time we were 4th in the North was 2017/8.

To be perfectly pedantic - he didn't say when we would take it, only that when we eventually did we wouldn't give it back.

[G08]

Where was the context and nuance when Ryan Poles confidently stated “we’re going to take back the North and we’re not giving it back”?

In sports you live and die by how you perform against expectations. He shouldn’t proclaim such things if he’s going to do the exact opposite.

Before Poles, the last time we were 4th in the North was 2017/8.

To be perfectly pedantic - he didn't say when we would take it, only that when we eventually did we wouldn't give it back.

[wab]

Where was the context and nuance when Ryan Poles confidently stated “we’re going to take back the North and we’re not giving it back”?

In sports you live and die by how you perform against expectations. He shouldn’t proclaim such things if he’s going to do the exact opposite.

Before Poles, the last time we were 4th in the North was 2017/8.

To be perfectly pedantic - he didn't say when we would take it, only that when we eventually did we wouldn't give it back.

It would have been better if he said "we are really gonna heckin try to take back the north, but I'm not making promises".

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

To be perfectly pedantic - he didn't say when we would take it, only that when we eventually did we wouldn't give it back.

It would have been better if he said "we are really gonna heckin try to take back the north, but I'm not making promises".

He’d still be failing

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

Where was the context and nuance when Ryan Poles confidently stated “we’re going to take back the North and we’re not giving it back”?

In sports you live and die by how you perform against expectations. He shouldn’t proclaim such things if he’s going to do the exact opposite.

Before Poles, the last time we were 4th in the North was 2017/8.

To be perfectly pedantic - he didn't say when we would take it, only that when we eventually did we wouldn't give it back.

We’ve scarcely been further away from that goal than our time under Ryan Poles

[Magilla_Gorilla]

To be perfectly pedantic - he didn't say when we would take it, only that when we eventually did we wouldn't give it back.

We’ve scarcely been further away from that goal than our time under Ryan Poles

We finished with 4 straight 4th place finishes under Emery/Pace including 3 straight under Pace. Prior to Poles we had finished 4th 6 of the 20 years there were 4 teams in the division - we've been last place 30% of the existence of the 4 team division.

[Moriarty]

Anyway, back to the original question -

I'm very, very on the fence about Poles right now.

It is a relatively talented team in rebuild year 3.
But the list of things he's done seriously wrong is pretty long for 3 yrs in, too.


I'd hate to have him hire a HC, then decide he can't stay 1 year later. But I'm not at all willing to commit to "3-4 more years, unless something Eberflus level catastrophic happens", either.

I kinda wonder if Ian Cunningham wouldn't be an upgrade.


Bears would be in such a better place - not just head coaching-wise, but alignment and timing-wise, too - if they'd only have fired Flus in the offseason.

[LacertineForest]

The Bears could be 8-4 right now and still be 4th in the North. That is definitely not true of the pre-Poles years.

if we were 8-4 I imagine a lot of conversations would be different, but we’re a long way off 8-4

My point was that last place this year is very different than it has been traditionally, not that the Bears could or even should be at a different record than they are. Using order in the division isn't good for comparison across years, imo.

[Boris13c]

I say no

we all understand the growing pains and learning curve for a new young QB ... well how about sharing a bit of that love and understanding with the young GM?

has he been perfect? nope, and he will be the first to tell you so ... but look at the roster and see his real work ... the only thing I gave him demerits for was not taking building the offensive line seriously, which I found odd since he is an ex offensive lineman ... even with the O line failings, he has done more than enough positive things to earn his keep and keep his job IMO

[dplank]

You’ll all be joining me this time next year lol…same as a year ago when I was on an island wanting to fire Flus after just 2 seasons. All will be welcomed aboard the bandwagon!

[Magilla_Gorilla]

You’ll all be joining me this time next year lol…same as a year ago when I was on an island wanting to fire Flus after just 2 seasons. All will be welcomed aboard the bandwagon!

Manhattan Island? Because there were at least a couple of million Bears fans on that island with you.

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

I’m backing out of a few of these discussions for a while as I’ve had my say and I’m bringing myself and everyone else on the board down.
I’m pissed off about a few things, not just Bears stuff, so I’ll back off a bit.

Sorry for my self-indulgent morose.

[G08]

I’m backing out of a few of these discussions for a while as I’ve had my say and I’m bringing myself and everyone else on the board down.
I’m pissed off about a few things, not just Bears stuff, so I’ll back off a bit.

Sorry for my self-indulgent morose.

You're good bro -- this is a safe space!

Hope all is well

[dplank]

You’ll all be joining me this time next year lol…same as a year ago when I was on an island wanting to fire Flus after just 2 seasons. All will be welcomed aboard the bandwagon!

Manhattan Island? Because there were at least a couple of million Bears fans on that island with you.

Hmmm, maybe I’m misremembering but I feel like I was pretty ardently shouted down on this board. Maybe not.

[Moriarty]

Manhattan Island? Because there were at least a couple of million Bears fans on that island with you.

Hmmm, maybe I’m misremembering but I feel like I was pretty ardently shouted down on this board. Maybe not.

I was very surprised to go back and find that 16/31 votes wanted Eberflus fired.
viewtopic.php?p=364369#p364369


However, I do feel like, once they announced that Getsy and Fields were out and Flus was staying, that the mobs were quickly pacified.
(I still wasn't happy with it)

[spudbear]

Well, that was unusual, I agreed (mostly) with our resident eeyore Artbest. Except for the major blunder of Poles when he hired Eberflus. They were both unknown quantities stepping into a shitshow. It takes time to develop a GM and HC that are "rookies". Letting Poles go now would continue the slide of Bears into mediocrity. He has turned around the talent on the team, now he needs to show he can get the right coaches.

If anything, the major blunder was Waldron. It ended up finally exposing Flus for his inadequacies. Even with that, if the Fail Mary and tipped FG against GB had gone the other way (both within an inch or so of changing) then the Bears are 6-6 and Flus is heading with the team to SF this weekend. I doubt he would be around next season taking into consideration his other blunders but he would have finished out the year. His players did not seem to respect him beyond what happened at the Washington game, but that was the incident that has driven the losing streak and the Flus flushing.

This is new ground that the relatively new Warren and Poles are plowing, and if anything Warren taking an active role this last week shows he's got Poles back. I'm confident they're on the same page with GMcC's support. The Bears will need to win and make the playoffs for Poles to keep his GM after next year.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

The Bears could be 8-4 right now and still be 4th in the North. That is definitely not true of the pre-Poles years.

if we were 8-4 I imagine a lot of conversations would be different, but we’re a long way off 8-4

You're right that the conversations would be very different... and Eberflus would still be the head coach.

Two plays alone, the Hail Mary and a blocked FG, are half the difference between 4-8 and 8-4. Then there's the last two games which were also there to be won and a terrible performance against the lowly Patriots. Those defeats are why they've fired the head coach. Poles was by all accounts furious and drove that firing. They shouldn't be a long way off 8-4 with the roster he's built or at least that's the feeling of most both here on this board and in the media.

Poles is getting pilloried for Eberflus, but he could never have anticipated all the late game dramas this year even after the 4th quarter losses incurred last year.

Things were looking pretty good after the London game when they won their third game in a row to get to 4-2 and Williams had compiled a passer rating of over 106 in each of those victories which culminated in a 4 TD performance against the Jaguars.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

I’m backing out of a few of these discussions for a while as I’ve had my say and I’m bringing myself and everyone else on the board down.
I’m pissed off about a few things, not just Bears stuff, so I’ll back off a bit.

Sorry for my self-indulgent morose.

Sorry to hear things a bit rough for you at the moment.

Don't forget that however disappointing this season has been we'll always have that Tottenham game.

[IotaNet]

For me it’s real simple: If Poles got fired today, the team is in better condition than he found it in.

We have better talent - ascending YOUNG talent
We are out of cap hell
We have strong draft capital
We have our franchise quarterback

Period.

[WagonForce]

I’m backing out of a few of these discussions for a while as I’ve had my say and I’m bringing myself and everyone else on the board down.
I’m pissed off about a few things, not just Bears stuff, so I’ll back off a bit.

Sorry for my self-indulgent morose.

Personally, I don't mind one bit when you (or anyone else), post genuine feelings about the Bears. This team has driven me to madness for a long time. Part of why I hang out here is connecting with other fans who are experiencing the same stuff. That said, I totally get taking a break from diving into the discussions for a bit too.

Besides being a fan of this merciless, god forsaken franchise, I hope things get better for you soon DD.

[HurricaneBear]

I'd rather fire Warren then Poles

[Boris13c]

I'd rather fire Warren then Poles

but why? he didn't impress you with his briefing about the feng shui of the seating areas of the new stadium that is never going to be built?

[Shadow]

I said no, Bears cannot keep blowing it all up every 3-5 years and expect to get this team out of the cellar.
Poles has done a good job, imo. Not perfect but who is?
People asking for him to be fired and turning the Bears over to Cunningham is unrealistic.They are buddies and Poles brought in Cunningham when he got the GM job. I do not see him be agreeable to replacing the man that got him his Assistant GM position.

[HurricaneBear]

I said no, Bears cannot keep blowing it all up every 3-5 years and expect to get this team out of the cellar.
Poles has done a good job, imo. Not perfect but who is?
People asking for him to be fired and turning the Bears over to Cunningham is unrealistic.They are buddies and Poles brought in Cunningham when he got the GM job. I do not see him be agreeable to replacing the man that got him his Assistant GM position.

I think Cunningham would be sad for his friend as he accepted the job. It's business. I also don't think Poles is getting fired.

[Moriarty]

I said no, Bears cannot keep blowing it all up every 3-5 years and expect to get this team out of the cellar.

Getting a new GM doesn't mean blowing everything up.
This is isn't a 2021 Bears roster.
You bring in someone to go from point B to point C - which is the same thing we're doing with the head coach.

[Shadow]

Lets see...resetting the Coaching staff. Resetting the GM position and his staff. Sounds like blowing it all up. Granted only about a third of the roster gets turned over, maybe.

[Hema2.0]

I’m backing out of a few of these discussions for a while as I’ve had my say and I’m bringing myself and everyone else on the board down.
I’m pissed off about a few things, not just Bears stuff, so I’ll back off a bit.

Sorry for my self-indulgent morose.

You’re me boy DD. Take care of yourself!

[o-pus #40 in B major]

Lets see...resetting the Coaching staff. Resetting the GM position and his staff. Sounds like blowing it all up. Granted only about a third of the roster gets turned over, maybe.

It sounds a lot like a blowup.

Don't know about the roster but that's an awful lot of new personalities at one time in the organization - what about the closet lurker and the guy with a distasteful habit?

Who knew this joker would spit tobacco juice in every wastebasket around the place?

Complete turnover is never going to be 100% positive. Some people will give you a great reference on a bad apple simply in the hope that they'll get rid of him.

It's a lot of hiring to be done at the same time and that's when HR and Warren and George will f**k at least a few things up.

[G08]

Two plays alone, the Hail Mary and a blocked FG, are half the difference between 4-8 and 8-4. Then there's the last two games which were also there to be won and a terrible performance against the lowly Patriots. Those defeats are why they've fired the head coach. Poles was by all accounts furious and drove that firing. They shouldn't be a long way off 8-4 with the roster he's built or at least that's the feeling of most both here on this board and in the media.

More and more I am starting to wonder if the Hail Mary and blocked FG are blessings in disguise.

[dplank]

They absolutely were blessings G08. We didn't need to waste another year, or even two, before we realized that Flus wasn't the guy that would bring us a championship. They were flukes and they sucked when they happened, but it's all for the best IMO.