LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Phil Emery presented a thorough plan for improving the Chicago Bears, and team president Ted Phillips loved his attention to detail and his toughness from his days as a strength and conditioning coach at Navy.
That's how Emery became the top choice to become the team's new general manager. And when Phillips called around the league and talked with other GMs, coaches and executives to get their take, he heard nothing that challenged his initial impression.
"Nobody had a negative thing to say about Phil Emery, so I became intrigued early on," Phillips said.
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Emery was introduced Monday as the Bears' GM, taking over after Jerry Angelo was fired following an 8-8 season that featured the Bears faltering down the stretch after injuries to quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte.
During Angelo's 11-year run, the Bears won four division championships, reached the Super Bowl and got back to the NFC Championship Game after the 2010 season. But Angelo, who had been under contract through 2013, was undone on several fronts -- especially when backup Caleb Hanie struggled mightily after Cutler was hurt.
Chicago has missed the playoffs four out of the last five seasons.
The 53-year-old Emery actually worked under Angelo when he was a Bears area scout from 1998-2004. His final year in that post overlapped for five months with coach Lovie Smith, whose future Emery will now determine.
Emery made it clear that he's his own man and not following in the footsteps of Angelo, who like Emery had an extensive scouting and personnel background before getting his first GM job.
"I'm a very different person than Jerry. I worked for Jerry. I respect him. But we both come from different backgrounds as any two people would," Emery said. "My influences are different."
Emery spent the three previous seasons as director of college scouting for the Kansas City Chiefs. From 2004-08, Emery held a similar post with the Atlanta Falcons. Among his several college coaching stops were stints as conditioning and strength coach at both Tennessee and Navy.
Emery and New England Patriots director of pro personnel Jason Licht were finalists and both interviewed twice. The Bears also interviewed San Diego Chargers director of player personnel Jimmy Raye, New York Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross and former director of player personnel Tim Ruskell.
Ruskell and the Bearsparted ways by mutual decision Monday, a team spokesman said, so Emery now has a vacancy to fill.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
