Big Ten Commissioner A 'Strong' Candidate For Bears President: Report

CHICAGO — Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren has emerged as a strong candidate to replace Ted Phillips as the president and CEO of the Chicago Bears, according to a report.

Warren, who has served as the Big Ten’s Commissioner since 2019, worked previously as the Chief Operating Officer for the Minnesota Vikings, giving him extensive knowledge of the inner workings of the NFL. Warren spent 15 years with the Vikings, but has also worked in NFL front office jobs with the Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams. Warren is the sixth president in Big Ten history.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Thursday that the process of the Bears naming Philips’ successor could be wrapped up in the coming weeks. In a statement, the Big Ten said on Thursday that Warren remains focused on conference business.

"Over the course of three decades in professional and collegiate sports, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren regularly receives unique opportunities and requests for his expertise from leaders across a variety of industries ranging from professional sports ownership groups to private equity firms," the league statement said. "The Commissioner utilizes each occurrence to listen, learn and assist every stakeholder in the most appropriate and effective manner. The Commissioner remains focused on the Big Ten Conference, its 14 member institutions and over 10,000 student-athletes in both regular season and postseason play."

The ESPN report said that Warren is one of the final candidates to be considered for the Bears vacancy, but that it is unknown about how many people with the league offices know that Warren is a candidate for the job. Thamel reported that Warren interviewed for the Bears job twice in person with members of the team’s front office.

In a statement on Thursday, the Bears said that they do not have a specific timeline for a hire for the key front office position.

“We have not set a timeline for announcing Ted Phillips' successor," the Bears said in the statement. "Our search team has cast a wide net, spoke to many outstanding candidates and looks forward to introducing our next President and CEO at the process’s conclusion.”

The Bears announced that Phillips would retire from his position in February after spending nearly 40 years with the franchise. Phillips has worked extensively on a potential move for the Bears to Arlington Heights, and has been heavily involved with working with Arlington Heights officials to build a new domed stadium in the village.

Phillips called the property one of the most unique properties in all of Chicagoland after the team signed a $197 million purchase agreement to buy the site for a new stadium. Despite the City of Chicago’s best efforts to keep the team on the Lakefront.

During his tenure with the Vikings, Warren was instrumental in the efforts to build a new stadium in Minneapolis. Previous designs for the new Bears stadium has been said to be a hybrid U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and Ford Field in Detroit.

Since joining the Big Ten, Warren has been a major force in league expansion, including the addition of USC and UCLA and negotiating a new Big Ten TV deal that is reported to be valued at around $7 billion.