Halas’ Grandson Modernizes Bears Operation

Michael McCaskey carefully chose his words when he first started talking about the past and immediate future of the NFL team he inherited from one of the game’s legends, George (Papa Bear) Halas.

McCaskey, grandson of the late owner, was talking fondly of his recollections of having Thanksgiving Day dinner at grandpa’s, hearing the talk about how the NFL came to be the giant industry it is today. He could reminisce about working out with the 1963 Chicago Bears, the last Chicago club to win an NFL championship, and about his parents talking to Papa Bear about drafting him as a wide receiver out of Yale.

But then there were the words about the Bears’ future and the need to come up to date with other NFL clubs: decentralization of authority, use of computers, modern day budgeting and planning.

In less than two years, he has accomplished the feat, considered to be an impossible chore by some NFL insiders who thought the Bears’ thinking was back in the 1950s.

It was a stark conflict for the 39-year-old president and chief operating officer of the Bears: the desire to keep the thoughts of his grandfather and patriarch of professional football on an upbeat note but a need for changes within the internal framework of the Chicago Bears.

“When George Halas ran the Chicago Bears, he was the sole authority,” McCaskey said. “I know that when he became seriously ill there was confusion about authority and lines of authority. I saw it as one of my top priorities to clear up those lines.”

Papa Bear ran the club pretty much in the 1980s as he did in the 1920s. When a decision had to be made, from hiring a new coach to painting seats a certain color, Halas made them. He ran the club as if he owned it--which he did.

Halas knew no other way. He survived over three generations when sports businesses grew from one-man rule to combines and corporation ownership.

Under McCaskey and his father, Edward, who is now the chairman of the board, the team is still in the hands of the Halas family. Halas’ sole surviving daughter, Mrs. Virginia Halas McCaskey, is Edward’s wife and Michael’s mother. But McCaskey has made it clear he wants to learn how to run a NFL club for the 1980s and beyond.

“We went to Green Bay and Minnesota to look at their operations,” McCaskey says. “We wanted to take a look at the way the Dallas Cowboys used their computer.”

Computers are becoming an everyday tool of sports and McCaskey wants it to be a part of the Bears’ operations.

McCaskey entered into his job of running one of most lucrative franchises in sports with no prior experience of running a sports team. He wasn’t even a resident of Chicago for the previous nine years before he took over, having worked with his wife running a management consulting firm in Cambridge, Mass.

“I saw it as an advantage to come in and give a fresh outlook,” McCaskey says. “I don’t believe that in any management situation, and I have told this to CEO’s that we have advised, that you come in and make sweeping changes right away.”

But the changes the Bears have made have been more subtle, internal ones. Department heads with greater authority are still reporting to McCaskey, but with a much more decisive say than under Halas. The coach, Mike Ditka, technically reports to McCaskey and General Manager Jerry Vainisi but has had a complete say concerning the operations on the field.

McCaskey has repeatedly had to deny speculation he would sell the “family business” to a larger corporate entity, such as the Chicago Tribune Co., owners of the Chicago Cubs. The key to his denials have been his accessibility; he is one of the more visible NFL owners.

The other contribution McCaskey will give the Bears is youth. He is clearly a businessman-type; tailored suit, good speaking mannerisms and a quiet but firm voice. Halas was a coach turned businessman. His grandson is a businessman from start to finish.

Much as the Kennedys were to politics, the McCaskeys are to the Bears. A McCaskey is the public relations director; a McCaskey is now president, chief operating officer and a chairman of the board; a McCaskey (Mrs. Virginia) is the chief stockholder.

McCaskey has seven brothers and three sisters. At the present time, he plans not to include any more siblings in the running of the team.

“They were all very supportive of what decisions have been made and about me running the club,” McCaskey says. “We are a very competitive family. Ask anyone who has been on the handball court with us. But I think for now, it is important to let other people know in the organization that no other family members will be included in the actual running of the team.”