Bears conduct second round of GM interviews

Phil Emery and Jason Licht are interviewing for the Bears' general manager job for a second time today. Theo Epstein being spotted at Starbucks this is not.

Whether or not the Bears ultimately settle on one of their two apparent finalists or surprise us and go in another direction, they're not snagging a rock star as the Cubs did with Epstein a few months ago. Emery is the Chiefs' director of college scouting, and worked as a scout for the Bears as recently as 2004. Licht has the resume booster of having worked for the Patriots most recently, though I've heard that as director of pro personnel he was never even allowed inside of their war room on draft day.

In other words, it's come down to one guy that the vast majority of Bears fans have never heard of against another guy that the vast majority of Bears fans have never heard of. May the best nobody win!

Emery and Licht may not exactly be nobodies within the football world itself, but I don't think either would have qualified as a hot GM candidate before the Bears came along. There anonymity and even their potential lack of experience and/or qualifications won't necessarily preclude them from being or becoming very good at the job. But it sure seems to me like the Bears are settling, rather than approaching a critical hiring process with a plan and making sure they get the right guy from the job.

Because they're the Bears, it's not surprising that the process has led us here. In a world where the memory of the Cubs pulling Epstein out of a hat is still fresh in my mind, I'd hoped for better.