Chicago Bears football returns today, and Chicago White Sox fans couldn’t be happier that summer is over.
The Sox are trudging through the last month of the baseball season with a 32-111 record. Meanwhile, the Bears carry renewed hope and excitement into the 2024-2025 season.
As Sox fans avert their eyes from the slowest car crash known to man and look to rookie quarterback Caleb Williams for excitement, they shouldn’t forget that the Bears were just as bad as the Sox not long ago.
Despite placing last in the NFC North in 2022, the Bears have made drastic changes recently to position themselves for the future.
In 2022, the Bears began their rebuild by hiring Ryan Poles to replace long-time general manager Ryan Pace. Poles spent over a decade with the Kansas City Chiefs front office, overseeing a team that won a Super Bowl, two AFC championship titles, and seven AFC West division championships.
Three-time Super Bowl champion and nine-time Pro Bowler Travis Kelce credited much of the Chiefs’ last decade of success to Poles and his ability to scout talent on his podcast New Heights in April.
Kelce applauded, “He was big. He helped us build a lot of what we got.”
Since being the Bears GM, Poles has stacked the team with proven talent. His impactful free agent signings include running back D’Andre Swift, safety Kevin Byard, and cornerback Jaylon Johnson. He also traded for wide receiver DJ Moore and defensive lineman Montez Sweat in 2023.
This year, Poles drafted wide receiver Rome Odunze in addition to Williams, aiming to set the Bears up for several years of playoff contention with young players. This new Bears roster filled with veteran talent and rookies with potential star power will look to bounce back from its 7-10 finish last year.
The key to the Bears' projected improvement is a GM with an eye for young talent and a history of winning, something the Sox lacked with Rick Hahn.
Hahn spent 2013-2023 making questionable roster decisions as the Sox GM. In 2016, he was the mastermind behind trading shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. to the San Diego Padres for James Shields.
He's also responsible for signing Yasmani Grandal and Andrew Benintendi to expensive, long-term deals long after their glory days were behind them. Long story short, Hahn couldn’t identify long-lasting talent to save his life.
He concluded his time with the Sox with a 1,763-1,824 record, a .491 winning percentage, and only one AL Central division championship. Hahn had no GM experience before his tenure with Chicago. Current GM Chris Getz appears to be following in Hahn’s shoes, as Chicago is expected to finish the season with a sub-250 winning percentage in Getz's first year as a GM.
Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has an important decision to make this offseason with Getz. Though it's unlikely, the Sox could quickly turn their future around should Reinsdorf decide to fire Getz and hire an experienced GM.
Good luck, Bears, Chicago is watching you with high hopes this season.