The Chicago Bears began their General Manager search all wrong. Producing a press conference where head coach Lovie Smith was given as much power as anyone in the organization was not a good idea.

This is not a surprise. When it comes to the Bears’, not a whole lot makes sense.

Contract disputes, making trades, not making trades, whatever it may be, it just always seems like a complicated process for the Monsters of Confusion.

When team President Ted Phillips said that the new GM would have to understand Smith’s game plan, it completely hampered their search.

What kind of message does that send to prospective GM candidates?

The GM should be given complete control of the roster and coaching staff and although I do feel that Lovie should be retained, I think that if the Bears are looking for a guy that has to correlate his system with Lovie’s, they are not making much progress.

Look at the Oakland Raiders newly acquired GM Reggie McKenzie — he fired the fairly successful head coach Hue Jackson in the initial hours he was given the GM title.

McKenzie wanted to set the tone. He was showing that he was in power, and a fresh start was needed; can’t argue with that.

Again, I am not saying the Bears’ new GM should fire Lovie Smith, but he should at least be given the permission to do so if desired.

What the Bears should have said in the press conference after the Jerry Angelo firing was that the new GM will be fully allowed to make any coaching and personnel decisions he pleases.

If the new GM for the Bears doesn’t have the power to fire Smith, then how does he have the power to override Smith’s own personnel opinions? He doesn’t.

And many reports indicated that Lovie Smith is not completely innocent in botched draft picks. Apparently, numerous players that he stressed to be selected never panned out to be anything.

Good GMs will have a vision of where they want to take the team, but when the vision is skewed to what the coaches want, it affects that GM’s decisions.

You see, this does get a bit confusing and I may be over analyzing this, but this is what the Bears have done to us. To make matters even more confusing, the GM search in and of itself is not easy. Perception is not always reality.

When Jerry Angelo was fired my initial reaction was to start shuffling through director or player personnel’s, scouting directors and anyone who has had a solid hand in building through the draft, because that is where championships start.

After some careful reviewing I narrowed my candidates to Eric DeCosta, who took himself out of the GM running, Reggie McKenzie, because of his experience with Green Bay and Marc Ross of the New York Giants, who was recently interviewed.

Ross has been involved with drafts that have produced great pass rushers and wide receivers, two of the Bears' biggest needs.

I thought this was the guy. Then, of course, negative reports are released that he may not be the most time devoted candidate.

The most recent interviewee was Jason Licht, director of player personnel for the New England Patriots, which initially seemed like a lock due to his experience with the genius Bill Belichick.

Then, of course, reports were released that Licht has never even stepped foot inside the Patriots war room on draft day.

This whole process is complex; I can’t even imagine what it must be to the Bears.