Sources: Bears eye Huge 10 manager for president
12:38 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN Big 10 commissioner Kevin Warren has emerged as a strong candidate to be the next president of the Chicago Bears, sources informed ESPN on Thursday.Warren is among the final prospects in the Bears’look for the team’s next president/CEO and remains engaged after a lengthy search, with sources informing ESPN that he’s a serious-enough prospect that he talked to in person.Warren’s experience as an executive with the Minnesota Vikings, consisting of as the franchise’s chief operating officer, has actually been attracting the Bears, sources
told ESPN. He contributed in helping the Vikings construct a new arena, U.S. Bank Stadium. That’s a job that the Bears are approaching in the upcoming years on 326 acres in Arlington Heights.It’s unknown who Warren has actually notified of his Bears candidateship, but sources stated it’s not something that’s been widely distributed. The search is anticipated to complete in the upcoming weeks.”We have not set a timeline for revealing Ted Phillips’successor,”the Bears said in a declaration Thursday. “Our search team has actually cast a large net, spoken with lots of exceptional prospects and looks forward to introducing our next President and CEO at the procedure’s conclusion. “The Big Ten launched a declaration Thursday, which did not include a denial of Warren’s candidateship or that he had actually interviewed for the Bears task.”Over the course of three years in
expert and collegiate sports, Big 10 commissioner Kevin Warren regularly receives special chances and requests for his proficiency from leaders throughout a variety of industries varying from professional sports ownership groups to personal equity firms,”the Big Ten statement said.”The Commissioner makes use of each event to listen, discover and help every stakeholder in the most appropriate and reliable way.”It’s uncommon for a sitting commissioner of a Power 5 conference to interview for a professional sports task and remain taken part in a process this long, which sources said is a sign of Warren’s interest level. He has actually operated in the NFL as both a representative and a group executive. When he left the NFL, Warren was the highest-ranking NFL executive working on the business side for a team.Warren’s tenure with the Big 10 has been uneven. He began slowly, drawing sharp criticism for his handling of the conference in 2020 throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.Since then, Warren has led the Big Ten with the additions of
USC and UCLA and helped shepherd a record-setting television handle recent months that has been valued at more than$7 billion.Warren has actually publicly pushed for more growth for the Big 10, but that has been fulfilled internally with resistance. And for the future, the Big 10 will be a 16-team league that extends from New Jersey to Los Angeles.Warren started with the Big Ten in June 2019, becoming the first African American commissioner of a Power 5 conference. He has not been given a contract extension because coming aboard, and the length of his deal and any talks of an upcoming deal have not been discussed publicly by the league.His candidacy for the Bears job comes at a time when the Big 10 has a set of teams– No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State– in the College Football Playoff. Warren is not set up to participate in either game, which is uncommon for a commissioner.The Bears’search for a brand-new president/CEO has actually been drawn out considering that late summertime, sources informed ESPN. The search, which has been run by Nolan Partners, included a round of Zoom conferences with a host of initial candidates months ago– with Warren being a leading prospect among the final group. There have been multiple in-person interviews, including with Warren, in current weeks.Warren has 21 years of NFL experience, according to his bio.
That consists of jobs with the Rams and Lions before he spent 15 seasons with the Vikings.The Bears’ search is to change Ted Phillips, who revealed his retirement and has actually served because role given that 1999.