Chicago Bears hire Ryan Pace as new general manager

The Chicago Bears made a surprising move Thursday when they announced the hiring of New Orleans Saints exec Ryan Pace as their new general manager.

The Chicago Bears beat the media to the punch Thursday, breaking their own story that they have hired former New Orleans Saints director of player personnel Ryan Pace to be their new general manager.

BREAKING: The #Bears have hired Ryan Pace as their new general manager.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 8, 2015

Pace has spent the last 14 years with the Saints organization, beginning with a job in operations before moving into player personnel as a scouting assistant in 2002.

He was a pro scout from 2004-06 and was director of pro scouting for six years before being named director of player personnel in 2013.

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According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bears also interviewed former scout Chris Ballard—now director of player personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs and spent 11 years with the Bears from 2001-11—for the position vacated at season’s end when general manager Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman were fired.

Pace is a surprise choice—Ballard had been the odds-on favorite basically from the moment Emery started putting his personal effects into boxes to vacate the office.

Pace played collegiately at Eastern Illinois from 1995-99.

“I’d hate to lose him and yet, he’s ready for a general manager’s job,” Saints GM Mickey Loomis said Tuesday, via The Times-Picayune. “He’s talented. I would expect to lose him at some point.”

That point would be right … about … now.

The New York Jets had also requested permission to interview Pace for their general manager opening, although there are multiple reports that Pace turned down the opportunity to interview.

Last January, the Saints blocked Pace from interviewing with the Miami Dolphins about their GM position. He was still under contract at the time and the team was in the playoffs.

Others interviewed by Chicago were Houston Texans director of pro personnel Brian Gaine and Tennessee Titans vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson.

“He is really good at what he does,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “He’s a big part of what we do. He’s very talented and I know he has been promoted here a few times, and deservedly so.”

Pace’s first priority will continue the Bears’ head coaching search. Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase and Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn interviewed last week.

Emery didn’t last long in Chicago—just three seasons—before he was shown the door. It was Emery who fired former coach Lovie Smith after a 10-6 campaign in 2012 to bring in Trestman, who led the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes to back-to-back Grey Cup titles in 2011-12.

But the Bears were just 13-19 in his two seasons, including a 5-11 mark in 2014. He was 59-31 in five years in Canada and is a former offensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders.

The Chicago Bears made a surprising move Thursday when they announced the hiring of New Orleans Saints exec Ryan Pace as their new general manager.

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