Jerry Angelo

Jerry Angelo

Angelo at Bears Training Camp, 2008
Position(s)	General Manager
College	Miami University
Honors	Best General Manager in Chicago (Forbes.com 2007)[1] 3rd Best NFL General Manager (Forbes.com 2007) 8th Best General Manager in Professional Sports (Forbes.com 2007)
Regular season	60-52-0
Postseason	3-4
Career record	62-55-0
Championships won	NFC East (1986) NFC Central (1999, 2001) NFC North (2005, 2006) NFC Championship (1986, 2006) Super Bowl XXI (1986)
Team(s) as a player
1968-1970	Miami RedHawks (defensive tackle)
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1972 1973-1974 1975-1979 1980 1981 1982-1986 1987-2000 2001-present	Colorado State Rams (defensive line coach) Tampa Spartans (defensive line coach) (recruiting coach) Syracuse Orange (defensive line coach) Dallas Cowboys (scout) Calgary Stampeders (linebackers coach) New York Giants (regional scout) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (director of player personnel) Chicago Bears (general manager)

Jerry Angelo is the General Manager for the National Football League's Chicago Bears. He has held the role since 2001. Prior to joining the Chicago Bears, Angelo spent 14 years overseeing Tampa Bay Buccaneers' scouting department as their Director of Player Personnel. Angelo graduated from Miami University in 1971.^[2]

Early career

Angelo began his career in the NFL as a scout for both the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys in the early 1980s. Four years later he moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that had experienced brief success. An expansion team established in 1976, the Buccaneers lost the 1979 NFC Championship Game to the Los Angeles Rams. What followed were a chaotic series of player tragedies and setbacks that sent the team into a slump. A succession of coaches and numerous roster changes failed to revive the team throughout the 1980s. Angelo was associated with the appearance of front office divisions and management mistakes. By the late 1990s his 14-year tenure in Tampa Bay was perceived as successful, as the Buccanneers made the playoffs three times from 1997–2000. With new ownership of the franchise, Angelo moved on to the Chicago Bears.

Chicago Bears

Angelo became the Bears general manager in 2001.

After firing Dick Jauron, Angelo sought a new coach. The short list was Nick Saban, Russ Grimm, and Lovie Smith. Nick Saban was the frontrunner, but wanted the GM powers Angelo just acquired. Saban went on to a short tenure with the Miami Dolphins prior to returning to college football. Russ Grimm was the second choice but was not hired.

Lovie Smith was hired by Angelo as the coach of the Chicago Bears in 2004. The Bears went from 5–11 in 2004, to 11–6 in 2005 (including a playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers) to a team in 2006 that went 15–4 after losing Super Bowl XLI to the Indianapolis Colts. Angelo was ranked as the eighth best general manager in professional sports in February 2007.^[3]

Following the 2007 Super Bowl run, the Bears were mired in player personnel controversies. First, many players, media and fans were upset that head coach Lovie Smith was not given a contract extension, despite being the lowest paid head coach in the NFL and taking his team to the Super Bowl. The Bears eventually relented, granting Smith a 4 year extension after at times bitter negotiations. Then, Angelo traded his leading rusher and locker room favorite, Thomas Jones, plus the Bears 2nd round draft pick, for the Jets second round draft pick. Further dampering the Bears off-season was a prolonged contract battle with star linebacker Lance Briggs, who eventually had the franchise tag placed on him.

2007

The 2007 season saw the Bears go 7–9 and miss the playoffs. Angelo entered the offseason with the mentality that "free agency begins at home.^[4]" Rather than pursuing the league's top free agents, Angelo focused the team's resources on securing players that were already members of the team, including Lance Briggs, Alex Brown, Tommie Harris, Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman, and Devin Hester.^[5][6][7] He also choose to part with running back Cedric Benson, and replaced him with Matt Forte, whom the team drafted out of Tulane with the 44th overall pick of the 2008 NFL Draft.^[8]

2008

The Chicago Bears drafted Chris Williams, a left offensive tackle from Vanderbilt University with the fourteenth overall pick of the 2008 NFL Draft. On 24 July 2008, the second day of the 2008 Chicago Bears Training Camp, Williams was forced to leave practice due to back spasms.^[9] On 7 August 2008, Chris Williams underwent surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back.^[10] The controversy began when on 24 August 2008, it became known that Chicago Bears doctors knew Chris Williams had a herniated disk in his back prior to drafting him, yet took an unwise and risky gamble and decided to draft him anyway.^[11] Williams eventually began playing with the Bears in November,^[12] but received a limited role.

The 2008 Chicago Bears finished with a 9–7 record, and missed the playoffs after losing their season finale to the Houston Texans.^[13] After the season conclusion, Angelo parted with many of the team's defensive coaches, and hired Rod Marinelli.^[14] He also commented on the team's need to acquire a stable quarterback, dismissing rumors that Kyle Orton was the franchise's long-term solution.^[15] In an interview in January 2009, he stated, “It’s all about the quarterback... You don’t win because of wide receivers. You don’t win because of running backs. You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We’re fixated on that.”^[16]

2009

In March 2009, Angelo, along with several other NFL teams, expressed interest in acquiring Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos. Cutler, who had spent three years with Denver, requested to be traded after head coach Josh McDaniels considered replacing him with Matt Cassell.^[17][18] On April 2, Angelo made one of the biggest trades in the franchise's history by trading Kyle Orton, the Bears' first and third-round selections in 2009, and first-round pick in 2010 for Cutler, plus a fifth round pick.^[19] On the same day, the Bears also signed seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Pace.^[20] Despite the high profile trades, the Bears went 7-9 and again missed the playoffs. The Bears held a press-conference after the season to explain the team's future direction. Ted Phillips, the Bears president, confirmed that neither Angelo nor Lovie Smith would be dismissed for the teams disappointing finish.^[21]

2010

A clause in the 2006 collective bargaining agreement with the NFL established that there would be no salary cap in 2010. Thus, teams would be able to spend as much money as they wanted towards their players' salaries without having to worry about penalties or restrictions. On the first day of free agency, the Bears signed Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers, running back Chester Taylor, and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna.^[22] Angelo hired Mike Martz to replace Ron Turner as the Bears offensive coordinator, and promoted defensive line coach Rod Marinelli to defensive coordinator.^[23]

References

1. ^ Angelo ranked as eighth best GM in pro sports
2. ^ Miami University: Notable Alumni
3. ^ Front Office Bio
4. ^ Mayer, Larry (2008-06-18). "Signings show Bears feel free agency begins at home". chicagobears.com. http://admin.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4817. Retrieved 2009-01-06. 
5. ^ Mayer, Larry (2007-12-31). "Smith sees QB stability as critical issue with Bears". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4246. Retrieved 2008-03-05. 
6. ^ Mayer, Larry (2008-01-08). "Benson insists competing for top job won't faze him". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4262. Retrieved 2008-03-05. 
7. ^ Dillon, Dennis (2008-02-25). "Re-signing Grossman doesn't improve Bears". sportingnews.com (Sporting News). http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=360634. Retrieved 2008-03-05. 
8. ^ Seligman, Andrew (2008-06-09). "Bears waive Benson following 2nd arrest". Yahoo! Sports. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=ArLqibz0HqoOcJ2yRc7rggRDubYF?slug=ap-bears-benson&prov=ap&type=lgns. Retrieved 2008-06-10. 
9. ^ Back spasms KO top pick Williams
10. ^ Chris Williams : USA Today.com
11. ^ Williams' back issue no secret to Bears
12. ^ "Bears rally behind Grossman to keep Lions winless" (in American English). Associated Press. 2008-11-02. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=29645&displayPage=tab_recap&season=2008&week=REG9. Retrieved 2008-11-02. 
13. ^ Biggs, Brad (2008-12-19). "Bears have no one to blame but themselves after loss". Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/1352598,CST-SPT-bear29.article. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
14. ^ Cotsonika, Nicholas (2009-01-07). "Could Marinelli clan be headed for Windy City?". freep.com. http://www.freep.com/article/20090107/SPORTS01/90107046/1059/SPORTS11. Retrieved 2009-01-08. ^{[dead link]}
15. ^ Mayer, Larry (2008-12-30). "Solidifying QB position remains one of Angelo's top priorities". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=5499. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
16. ^ Hayes, Neil (2009-01-07). "Angelo is right, time to change Bears' identity". Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hayes/1366011,hayes-bears-identity-010709.article. Retrieved 2009-01-08. 
17. ^ Williamson, Bill (2009-02-28). "Source: Spurned Cutler wants to be traded". ESPN.com. http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcwest/0-3-1666/Spurned-Cutler-wants-to-be-traded.html. Retrieved 2009-03-01. 
18. ^ Schefter, Adam (2009-02-28). "Cutler upset over potential deals to Detroit, Tampa Bay". NFL.com. http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/02/28/cutler-upset-over-potential-deals-to-detroit-tampa-bay/. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
19. ^ "New home Chicago: Broncos ship disgruntled QB Cutler to Bears". http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80f93745&template=with-video&confirm=true. Retrieved 2009-04-02. 
20. ^ Mayer, Larry (2009-04-02). "Bears agree to terms with seven-time Pro Bowler Pace". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=5702. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
21. ^ Mitchell, Fred (2009-02-26). "Bears President Ted Phillips backs Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-02-26/sports/0902251084_1_bears-general-manager-jerry-angelo-awards-ceremony. Retrieved 2011-01-04. 
22. ^ Clayton, John. "Julius Peppers, Chicago Bears finalize deal". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=4969071. Retrieved 2010-03-05. 
23. ^ Mitchell, Fred (2010-08-15). "Marinelli, Martz have plenty to look at". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-08-15/sports/chi-100814-bears-brite_1_martz-offense-coach-martz-backup-caleb-hanie. Retrieved 2011-01-04. 

External links

• Front Office Bio: Jerry Angelo

Sporting positions
Preceded by vacant	Chicago Bears General Manager 2001–present	Succeeded by incumbent

Persondata
Name	Angelo, Jerry
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