PHOENIX — Kevin Warren’s first official day as Chicago Bears President and CEO will be April 17.
That’s when Warren, who still is working full time as Big Ten commissioner, will begin one-on-one interviews with every Bears employee to assess changes that need to be made to help create a championship-caliber organization.
He’ll dive deeper into the financial and logistical challenges the Bears face as they weigh whether to build a new stadium on the former Arlington Park property they just purchased. And he’ll continue to establish his working relationships with Bears Chairman George McCaskey, general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus.
But Warren already has been around the Bears and Halas Hall in the 2 ½ months since the team hired him, enacting a transition plan to take over for outgoing President Ted Phillips. He also joined the Bears at the NFL’s league meeting this week at the Arizona Biltmore resort.
And he has come away with a sense that looking ahead there’s “something special with the Chicago Bears.”
“This is not a normal environment of a team that won three football games this year,” Warren said. “Most of the time that happens, you’re in turmoil. But George is calm, Ryan is calm, Coach Eberflus is calm, I’m calm. We’re all connected and working together, and I think there’s a sense around the NFL community that we have the right people at the right time in the right situation focused on the right issues. And none of us have egos and that we’re doing the right thing. I really love the energy we have developed and are building, and I’m confident that we’ll do well together.”
The potential development of a new Arlington Heights stadium complex was on the top of the list of questions for Warren as he spoke with Chicago reporters Monday in Phoenix.
Warren said work on the possible development really begins now since the Bears closed on the land in February. At the time, the team sent an open letter to fans stating the project would require assistance, including “securing property tax certainty and support for infrastructure commensurate with the public benefits the project will yield to the region.”
Warren knows from his work helping to drive the Minnesota Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium project as Chief Operating Officer that patience and creativity are key in what will be a yearslong process if the Bears do decide to build. He said the NFL has stressed at the meetings this week that the league is a resource, not an adversary as they get deeper into that process.
While Warren has walked the property and believes the site “feels right,” he said he will have a better understanding of the timeline for a potential stadium, as well as the obstacles ahead, when he begins formal meetings about it. (He believes a good general estimate would be three years from groundbreaking to opening.)
But he already senses excitement about what the stadium — and a potential entertainment complex around it — could bring to fans.
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“What it comes down to is to focus on the why. Why is it important?” Warren said. “You think about the impact (U.S. Bank Stadium) has had in Minnesota, one just from a pride standpoint. People are prideful about a new stadium. And then to host the NCAA Final Four and Super Bowls and all the other events and watch your kids having midnight baseball games there, that’s a pride point.
“Also what it did in Minnesota is it was actually a great recruiter for businesses, even if you weren’t going to a game there. Those are things that, as we design this whole ecosystem with our stadium in Arlington Park, we have to create that environment where people when they come to visit in Chicago, they want to come see the new Chicago Bears stadium and work for companies there and all that. So that’s the part that’s so exciting about it. It’s much more than just a building. Really it’s building an energy center. And that does have a positive impact.”
On the football side, Warren already has had formal meetings with Poles to get a better feel for the general manager’s philosophy and priorities and how he approaches the draft, free agency and building a roster as he tries to turn the Bears around.
He said his rapport with Poles equates to “the way you feel about your college roommate,” as if they’ve known each other for years. And he was thrilled to watch how Poles handled trading the No. 1 draft pick to the Carolina Panthers earlier this month for a haul of draft picks and wide receiver DJ Moore.
“He is not only smart. He’s intelligent,” Warren said. “He has a high IQ, has a high EQ. He’s thorough. He’s diligent. He’s methodical. And he’s unflappable. Because anytime when you handle these trades, especially when you have the No. 1 pick and make these determinations, it’s an emotional roller coaster. So he’s passionate but he’s not emotional. He stayed really steady. He’s a great communicator, and it was just incredible to really watch him.”
In just a few weeks, Warren will delve deeper into that relationship with Poles and numerous other employees.
But he already has an idea of one way they can measure progress as his Bears tenure gets underway.
“Every time I walk into the building, I look at that statue of George Halas and I ask God to give me the strength to do what I need to do to make him proud,” Warren said. “There have been many a days where I have stopped in the chapel to pray, and before I go home I look at that statue and I ask myself, ‘If he had been with me every moment of that day, would he be proud of what I did?’ And if we get a collective group of people who can do that every single day, we’ll all be proud of the work we’ll be able to put in here over the next couple of years.”
