Following nearly 40 years with the organization and 23 in his current roles, Ted Phillips announced Friday he will retire as Chicago Bears team president and chief executive officer following the conclusion of the 2022 season.
"I have been truly blessed with the honor of working for the Chicago Bears for 40 seasons and look forward to leading the team through the 2022 season. I appreciate the support of the McCaskey family and to be involved in overseeing this amazing growth of the Chicago Bears through the years, is a dream come true," Phillips stated in a press release. "Every day has been a true pleasure and being surrounded by so many talented and wonderful people has made my job richly rewarding on many levels. I will always bleed blue and orange and forever be proud to be a part of the Chicago Bears family."
A search for Phillips' successor is currently underway and an announcement on a hire is expected "in the coming months," according to the team.
Phillips, who was previously a tax accountant and auditor, joined the Bears in 1983 as the team's controller, was hired as the team's vice president of operations in 1993 and has served as Chicago's CEO and president since 1999.
"It's difficult to put into words how much Ted has meant to the Bears and our family. The faith that Virginia and Ed McCaskey placed in him by naming him President and CEO of the Bears has been rewarded many times over," Bears chairman George McCaskey stated. "He's the best boss I ever had, and when I became his boss, he handled it graciously, as he has so many other situations. He is held in high regard by his peers around the league, and deservedly so. We are lucky to have had him here as long as we did."
Officially named team president and CEO on Feb. 10, 1999, Phillips became just the fourth person to serve as president in the club's 102-year history and the first outside of the Halas-McCaskey family (George Halas, George Halas, Jr., and Michael McCaskey previously held the role.).
Phillips is credited with overseeing the transformation of the club's operational bases in Chicago and Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois. The team relocated staff from Soldier Field to a downtown office space in 2018. Prior to that, Phillips guided a Halas Hall renovation that added more than 30,000 square feet to the team's headquarters. From 2017-19, Phillips also captained another Halas Hall renovation.
Most recently, Phillips restructured the front office by adding a senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion during the 2021 season.
During Phillips' tenure as president and CEO -- which featured six head coaches, including current coach Matt Eberflus -- the Bears' on-field accomplishments included five division championships and a Super Bowl appearance in the 2006 season.
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