Staley Da Bear
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- Mar 16, 2019
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Pace is only the third Bears executive to win the award, following George Halas in 1956 and Michael McCaskey in 1985.
“That’s also extremely humbling, but it’s also motivating,” Pace said. “You mentioned those names and they’ve really set the high standards that we strive to live up to. Every day we walk into Halas Hall and we walk by the George Halas statue, to me it’s just a constant reminder of how fortunate we are to be a part of this.”
After finishing in last place in the NFC North with a 5-11 record in 2017, the Bears rebounded to win the division in 2018 with a 12-4 mark.
Pace helped orchestrate the worst-to-first turnaround with a series of bold and impactful moves. He hired Nagy as head coach, traded for All-Pro outside linebacker Khalil Mack, matched a contract offer cornerback Kyle Fuller received from the Packers, completely revamped the receiving corps and drafted three players who were named to the NFL All-Rookie team.
The Bears had eight players named to the Pro Bowl after having none selected in 2017.
Pace on Sunday shared the credit for the Bears' success, praising the team’s personnel department, which includes director of player personnel Josh Lucas, assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly, director of college scouting Mark Sadowski and director of football administration Joey Laine.
“When you think of this award, it’s really a reflection of our whole staff,” Pace said. “It’s our scouts and our coaches and the relationships we have working together. It’s Matt and I being arm-in-arm on the visions that we have. It’s our personnel department and all the hard work they put it. It’s just a reflection on all of that.
“When Matt won coach of the year, I thought he said it perfect: it’s not coach of the year, it’s coaches of the year and I feel like this is staff of the year because we really won this together.”
Pace also lauded Virginia McCaskey, George McCaskey and Bears president/CEO Ted Phillips for providing their support and the resources required to uild a championship contender.
Here’s a closer look at five moves that Pace and his personnel department made that led to the Bears’ resurgence in 2018: