The Bears kicked off the start of a new era in Chicago with general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus, who were both introduced to the public for the first time since joining the franchise.
While Poles and Eberflus share the same first name as their predecessors in Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy, they couldn’t be more different. Even if Eberflus did reference an infamous Nagy phrase during the presser.
Poles started out his press conference with one heck of a vision for a Bears franchise that has struggled over the last few decades.
“We’re going to take the North and never give it back,” Poles said during his opening remarks on Monday morning.
Ryan Poles: “We’re going to take the North and never give it back.” pic.twitter.com/lS6iZK9vk9
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 31, 2022
In a way, it was reminiscent of former Bears head coach Lovie Smith’s opening remarks in 2004, where he stated his goals for the franchise, which included this gem: “The number one goal is to beat Green Bay.”
For Smith’s credit, he went 7-3 against Green Bay in his first five years. Although he did finish with an 8-11 record against the Packers.
And that’s exactly where Poles’ tenure begins — with the goal of finally getting over that Green Bay hump and taking back the NFC North.
If Justin Fields develops into a star quarterback, that’s certainly going to happen. It also doesn’t hurt that it Aaron Rodgers’ time in Green Bay appears to be coming to an end.
There were questions about whether the Bears would be rebuilding or retooling the franchise. And Poles’ bold declaration that Chicago is aiming to be Kings of the North answers that question definitively.
[listicle id=497946]