Phil Emery
Personal information
Born: (1959-01-16) January 16, 1959
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Career information
High school:Garden City (MI)
College:Wayne State
Career history
As a coach:
  • Central Michigan (1981–1982)
    Graduate assistant / offensive line
  • Western New Mexico (1982–1984)
    Offensive line coach & strength and conditioning
  • Georgetown College (1984–1985)
    Defensive line coach & strength and conditioning
  • Saginaw Valley State (1985–1987)
    Defensive line coach & strength and conditioning
  • Tennessee (1987–1991)
    Assistant strength and conditioning coach
  • Navy (1991–1998)
    Strength and conditioning coach
As an executive:

Phillip Emery (born January 16, 1959) is a former American football executive. He served as the general manager of the Chicago Bears from 2012 to 2014. He also held scouting positions for the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons.

Early life

Emery was born and grew up in Michigan and attended high school at Garden City East High School (which is now Garden City High School). He attended college and earned a Teaching Degree at Wayne State University in Detroit.[1] Emery received his Master of Arts Degree in Secondary Education from Western New Mexico University in 1983.

NFL scout

Emery was an area scout for the Bears from 1998 to 2004, working first under VP of Player Personnel Mark Hatley and then Jerry Angelo while serving head coaches Dave Wannstedt, Dick Jauron and Lovie Smith. He was hired by Rich McKay as the director of scouting for the Atlanta Falcons in May 2004 and served in that role through the 2008 draft. After the 2008 Draft and with the hiring of new Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff; Emery worked as the Eastern Regional Scout the fall of 2008 and through the 2009 Draft. Emery was named director of college scouting for the Kansas City Chiefs immediately following the 2009 Draft and remained in that role through the end of the month of January 2012. Prior to the Bears job, he was a graduate assistant football coach at Central Michigan University (1981), offensive line and strength and conditioning coach at Western New Mexico University (1982–1983), defensive line and strength coach at both Georgetown College (1984–1985) and then Saginaw Valley State University (1985-1987), before being named assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Tennessee (1987–1991). Emery was hired as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and Assistant Professor at the United States Naval Academy (1991–1998).[2]

Emery returned to the Falcons in 2016 as a scout.[3] On May 12, 2023, Emery announced his retirement from the NFL.

Chicago Bears

2012

In 2012, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo was fired. During the team's search, Emery was one of the four candidates, and was one of the two finalists for the job, along with Arizona Cardinals director of pro personnel Jason Licht.[4] After being hired, Bears chairman George McCaskey told Emery that though head coach Lovie Smith's contract ran through 2013, and that Smith would be head coach in 2012, Emery would have the ability to make a change at the position after the end of the 2012 season.[5] Smith was eventually fired on December 31, 2012, after the Bears missed the playoffs, despite having led the team to a 10–6 record.[6]

In Emery's first draft, he selected Shea McClellin,[7] Alshon Jeffery,[8] Brandon Hardin,[9] Evan Rodriguez,[10] Isaiah Frey, and Greg McCoy.[11] Overall, critics had mixed reviews on Emery's debut draft, with the Chicago Sun-Times experts giving the draft an average "C" grade.[12]

On December 31, the Bears front office released long-time head coach Lovie Smith, and Emery began searching for a new head coach.[13]

2013

On January 16, the Bears announced the hiring of Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman as head coach.[14] Trestman was widely regarded as Emery's pick due to his cerebral approach to the game and ability to improve the performance of the quarterbacks he has worked with.[15]

In Emery's second draft, he selected G Kyle Long in the first round (20th overall), LB Jon Bostic (50th overall), LB Khaseem Greene (117th overall), OL Jordan Mills (163rd overall), DE Cornelius Washington (188th overall), and WR Marquess Wilson (236 overall).[16] Reaction was mixed with ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. giving the whole of the Bears draft a C+ overall grade, stating the late round picks lacked value. However Jason Chilton rated the individual picks more highly in the later rounds.[17] The Bears ended the season with an 8–8 record and failed to make the playoffs.[18]

2014

In Emery's third draft he selected CB Kyle Fuller in the first round (1st round, 14th overall), DT Ego Ferguson (2nd round, 51st overall), DT Will Sutton (3rd round, 82nd overall), RB Ka'deem Carey (4th round, 117th overall), S Brock Vereen (4th round, 131st overall), QB David Fales (6th round, 183rd overall), P Pat O'Donnell (6th round, 191st overall), and OT Charles Leno, Jr. (7th round, 246th overall). The Bears traded with the Denver Broncos, swapping the Bears fifth round picks in 2014 and 2015 for the Broncos 4th and 7th picks in 2014. This ended up giving the Bears no fifth round pick, but two additional picks in both the fourth and sixth rounds. Emery also brought in undrafted free agents Jordan Lynch and James Dunbar.[19] Bucky Brooks of NFL.com gave the Bears draft a B, and called the 4th round pick of Carey the draft's biggest steal.[20]

Additionally, Elliot Harrison of NFL.com ranked the Bears offseason moves as the second best in the league based on a strong draft and the additions of free agents DE's Jared Allen, Willie Young, Lamarr Houston, Israel Idonije, and QB Jimmy Clausen.[21]

On December 29, 2014, Emery was fired from the Bears after the team merited a 5–11 record, their worst since their debut year with Lovie Smith, and, once again, missed the playoffs.[22] A significant, contributing factor to Emery's demise was his directive to extend quarterback Jay Cutler's contract in January 2014 to a lucrative seven-year deal with $126.7 million, of which $54 million was guaranteed. This negotiation has been deemed to be the worst contract in the NFL.[23][24][25][26]

The Bears hired Ryan Pace on January 8, 2015, to replace Emery as the GM.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Pompei, Dan (January 28, 2012). "Bio box: Phil Emery". Chicago Tribune.
  2. ↑ "Chicago Bears select Phil Emery as next general manager - ESPN Chicago". Espn.go.com. January 29, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  3. ↑ McClure, Vaughn (January 26, 2016). "Falcons hire Phil Emery and Ruston Webster as scouts". ESPN. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Bears' GM search down to Chiefs' Phil Emery, Patriots' Jason Licht - Chicago Sun-Times". Suntimes.com. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Chicago Bears' Phil Emery free to decide on Lovie Smith after 2012 - ESPN Chicago". Espn.go.com. July 27, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  6. ↑ Seligman, Andrew (December 31, 2012). "Bears fire coach Lovie Smith after 9 seasons". The Denver Post. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Chicago Bears GM Phil Emery makes bold first draft pick in Shea McClellin - ESPN Chicago". Espn.go.com. April 27, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  8. ↑ Jensen, Sean (April 27, 2012). "Alshon Jeffery was one of the Bears top 3 rated receivers - Inside the Bears". Blogs.suntimes.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Bears sign Brandon Hardin; entire draft class under contract - Chicago Sun-Times". Suntimes.com. May 15, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Tight end Evan Rodriguez is playing more fullback these days - Chicago Sun-Times". Suntimes.com. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Late cornerback picks: Bears take Isaiah Frey, Greg McCoy - Chicago Sun-Times". Suntimes.com. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  12. ↑ Jensen, Sean (April 29, 2012). "Experts giving Bears get mostly C's for 2012 draft - Inside the Bears". Blogs.suntimes.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  13. ↑ Wilson, Ryan. "Bears GM Phil Emery Explains Why Lovie Smith Was Fired". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Bears hire Marc Trestman as next head coach". USAToday.com. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  15. ↑ Householder, Sam. "Phil Emery: The smartest man in the room," WindyCityGridiron.com. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  16. ↑ "2013 NFL draft - Cowboys have a different view of Long." ESPNChicago.com. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  17. ↑ Schweickert, Steven. "Grading the 2013 Chicago Bears Draft". WindyCityGridiron.com. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  18. ↑ http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1/Bears-stunned-by-late-Packers-rally/99ea9711-59f7-444e-8a1b-c253190b3cce Archived December 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine "Bears stunned by late Packers rally" ChicagoBears.com Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  19. ↑ "2014 NFL Draft: Recap of Chicago Bears picks & undrafted free agent talk". WindyCityGridirong.com. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  20. ↑ "NFC North draft grades: Minnesota Vikings finagle a quarterback" NFL.com. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Bears ranked 2nd in offseason moves". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Bears fire GM, sources say; Trestman, too". ESPN. December 29, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Is Jay Cutler's Contract the Worst in the NFL?". Forbes.
  24. ↑ "Jay Cutler's contract named NFL's worst QB deal from team's perspective". June 9, 2015.
  25. ↑ http://thesportsquotient.com/nfl/2016/6/28/the-three-worst-contracts-in-the-nfl
  26. ↑ "Chicago Bears RUMORS: Jay Cutler's Contract Listed as Worst QB Deal in NFL". June 9, 2015.
  27. ↑ Biggs, Brad; Campbell, Rich; Wiederer, Dan (January 8, 2015). "Bears hire Ryan Pace as general manager". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
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