Bears name Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren president/CEO

On the verge of one of the most critical moments in franchise history, the Bears did something Thursday they had never done in their 103 years: entrusted the franchise to someone who didn’t already work inside Halas Hall.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren was named the team’s fifth president/CEO. He’s the first president who hasn’t previously worked for the team and the second who isn’t a blood relative of founder George S. Halas. That man, Ted Phillips, spent 16 years with the team before becoming president/CEO in 1999. His retirement opened the vacancy for Warren, the first African American Power 5 athletic director in college sports history. He left the Big Ten with 18 months left on his contract.

Warren will oversee the Bears’ business affairs and the performance of general manager Ryan Poles. He will be introduced at Halas Hall on Tuesday and is expected to start in April.

What Warren lacks in firsthand experience with the NFL’s charter franchise he more than makes up for in familiarity with the most important issue the Bears face: building a new stadium.

The Bears are in escrow on the 326-acre Arlington International Racecourse property and hope to close sometime in the first quarter of this year. They intend to build a stadium and entertainment district there and cannot negotiate about any other site — including a renovated Soldier Field — while in escrow for the $197.2 million site.

As the Vikings’ executive vice president of legal affairs and chief administrative officer from 2005 to 2014 and COO from 2015 to 2019, Warren oversaw the business, financial, legal and operational details of the construction of U.S. Bank Stadium. Some inside Halas Hall consider the stadium, which opened in 2016, to be a model for the Bears’ future ballpark.

Warren will bring fresh eyes — and a more frenetic energy — to the franchise and the stadium project. In a statement, Bears chairman George McCaskey called him a “man of integrity, respect and excellence, all of which are critical core values” of the Bears.

“He is a proven leader who has many times stepped outside of his comfort zone to challenge status quo for unconventional growth and prosperity,” McCaskey said. “In this role, Warren will serve in the primary leadership position of the franchise to help bring the next Super Bowl championship trophy home to Bears fans.”

In a statement, Warren said he has the “drive to carry out and build upon the legacy and spirit of this founding franchise and my predecessors.” It would be a success if he could do them one better. With Phillips as president, the Bears won only three playoff games — two in the 2006 Super Bowl season and a divisional-round game at the end of the 2010 season.

Warren leaves the Big Ten after an eventful, brief tenure. A year into the job, he was one of many administrators forced to grapple with the coronavirus. He postponed the 2020 fall season amid blowback from players, coaches and then-Ohio State star Justin Fields, who launched a petition to reinstate Big Ten sports. Warren did just that a month later.

Warren shocked the college sports world in June when he lured UCLA and USC to the Big Ten from the Pac-12. Buoyed by the attractiveness of the Los Angeles market — the schools will join in 2024 — the Big Ten negotiated a lucrative media-rights deal less than two months later.

McCaskey, Phillips and Tanesha Wade, the Bears’ senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, led the interview process with help from search firm Nolan Partners. In September, McCaskey said the team was open to candidates with different backgrounds but cited traits the team thought were essential: “leadership, vision, humility [and] consensus-building.”