New Bears GM the youngest in NFL

The Bears decided to go young rather than familiar in choosing 37-year-old Ryan Pace Thursday as the sixth general manager in team history over Chris Ballard, who spent 12 years in the organization.

Pace was the New Orleans Saints' director of player personnel the last two seasons, working under general manager Mickey Loomis. Pace, who grew up in Texas and played defensive end at Eastern Illinois, was interviewed on Wednesday by Bears chairman George McCaskey, team president and CEO Ted Phillips and Ernie Accorsi, who was hired as an advisor to find the successor to Phil Emery. The Bears fired Emery on Dec. 29 after three years.

Ballard, who was considered a front-runner for the Bears job in some circles, also was interviewed Wednesday. The Kansas City Chiefs' director of player personnel the last two years previously spent 11 years as a Bears area scout and in 2012 was promoted to their director of pro scouting.

The Bears' other two candidates were Tennessee Titans vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson and Houston Texans director of pro personnel Brian Gaine. Both Dawson and Gaine interviewed on Tuesday.

While Pace now becomes the NFL's youngest general manager, Loomis, his boss in New Orleans, felt he was ready for a promotion.

"I'd hate to lose him and yet he's ready for a general manager's job," Loomis told New Orleans reporters last week. "He's talented. I would expect to lose him at some point."

Saints head coach Sean Payton, a Naperville Central High School graduate who also played football at EIU, had praise for Pace as well.

"He's really good at what he does," Payton told Saints reporters. "He's a big part of what we do. I get fired up when he comes to see me first thing this morning and his mind's already racing."

Pace has spent the last 14 years in the Saints' organization, 13 in the personnel department, during which time they had a 55.3 winning percentage (115-93), made the playoffs five times and won Super Bowl XLIV. As director of player personnel, Pace was a major contributor in the evaluation and scouting of college and pro players.

Last year at the Senior Bowl, Loomis was asked about Pace and said: "I kind of feel like he's been our secret for a while, but he's a great young personnel director."

In the six years before becoming personnel director, Pace was the Saints' director of pro scouting (2007-12), recommending player acquisitions from other NFL teams, evaluating potential free-agent signings, scouting opponents and assisting in the evaluation of top college prospects.

Executive director of the Senior Bowl, Phil Savage, an NFL executive for 20 years, congratulated Pace via Twitter: "Underrated and understated for a long time," he wrote, "deserves his shot."

Pace's first order of business with the Bears will be hiring a head coach to replace Marc Trestman, who was fired after this season's 5-11 finish. McCaskey, Phillips and Accorsi have already interviewed Denver Broncos' offensive coordinator Adam Gase, Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Damn Quinn and Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.

Pace and his wife Stephanie have a daughter, Cardyn. He will be introduced at an 11 a.m. news conference Friday at Halas Hall.

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