ryan poles

Bears' Ryan Poles Has Warning for Rest of NFC North

Ryan Poles had a warning for the rest of the NFC North originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Chicago Bears have have new leadership in general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus. Now starts the long journey to establish the Bears as consistent winners.

And Poles addressed that right off the bat.

"We're going to take the North and never give it back," Poles said

The NFC North has been dominated by the Green Bay Packers in recent seasons. Since 2011, the Packers have eight division crowns. The Bears have one (2018) and the Minnesota Vikings have two more.

Bears fans are tired of seeing the Packers, with a pair of back-to-back Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers reign over the division. In the past 20-plus seasons, the Packers have narrowed the gap in the rivalry record while also passing the Bears for most all-time wins, a record the Bears held for a century.

The message definitely hit the right note.

Before taking the job at Halas Hall, the 36-year-old Poles had spent the last 13 years working in the Chiefs organization, most recently as their executive director of player personnel. Poles comes from a scouting background with an emphasis on the college game, and joined Kansas City’s front office as a scouting assistant in 2009. He was the team’s director of college scouting in 2017, so he was leading the Chief’s college scouting efforts when the team traded up to draft Patrick Mahomes.

The Bears added more information regarding Poles’ background in their introductory announcement.

“Poles oversaw all aspects of the college scouting across the country for the Chiefs while assisting with the pro personnel process and preparing for free agency. He also assisted General Manager Brett Veach with the coordination of the NFL Draft and overseeing the team’s out-of-town area scouts. Poles was instrumental in helping the Chiefs land top draft prospects such as All-Pros Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. This past season the Chiefs tied for second in the NFL with six Pro Bowl selections in Mahomes, Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Orlando Brown, Chris Jones and Tyrann Mathieu and tied for first in the NFL with seven selections in 2020. In total since 2009, the Chiefs have had 69 Pro Bowl selections with 28 different players.”

Poles played college ball, too. He was an offensive tackle for the Boston College Eagles from 2004-2007, so he protected the likes of Quinton Porter, Chris Crane and future NFL star Matt Ryan.

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