The disappointment is evident in his face as Mark Hatley critiques the man most responsible for this Bears draft and the last three. Hatley, whose job is to assess the performances of current and future football players, is no less direct or blunt in assessing the performance of one Mark Hatley.
“I’d say it wasn’t good enough,” Hatley said. “That’s the way I look at it. If I’d done a better job of getting the right players in here, we’d have won. I hadn’t gotten it done. I think we’ve got some talent in here and hit on some good players.
“But the bottom line out of the thing is getting the personnel in here and win. That doesn’t ever change.”
Hatley and his department are in the final days before the 2001 draft in a business where the draft still remains the defining indicator of teams’ fortunes.
Some also believe these are the final days of Hatley’s tenure with the Bears, that he will be leaving for a personnel position with Marty Schottenheimer and the Washington Redskins, and that college scouting director Bill Rees is headed for a personnel post with the San Francisco 49ers after the draft.
But those scenarios are overshadowed by Hatley’s recent past and present, because both have immense significance in the future of the Bears, no matter where Hatley or Rees are later this year.
The Bears’ rebuilding has stalled partially because of Hatley’s drafting. Of his 30 draft choices through three drafts, only seven are starting for the Bears. Of his last three No. 1 picks, only one–middle linebacker Brian Urlacher (2000)–is starting. Running back Curtis Enis (’98) is with the Cleveland Browns and quarterback Cade McNown (’99) could begin training camp at third string after regressing in his second season.
But while personnel reputations are made or broken with the top picks, franchises are made with more than No. 1s, and so it has been with Hatley. His No. 1s the last three drafts have been generally no worse, for example, than those of Green Bay Packers GM Ron Wolf. But Wolf has picked up a starting right tackle in the seventh round, starting guards in the sixth and seventh.
Because of misses with three No. 3s at wide receiver in the last two drafts, Hatley is considering a wide receiver with the eighth pick this year. Wolf’s third-round pick in 1995 was Antonio Freeman; his sixth-round pick in 1994 was Bill Schroeder. Both caught more passes last season than the Bears’ three No. 3s (D’Wayne Bates, Marty Booker, Dez White) combined.
The Packers drafted Dorsey Levens in a fifth round. The Denver Broncos found Terrell Davis and rookie of the year Mike Anderson in sixth rounds. Hatley’s sixth-round running back last year was Frank Murphy, now with Tampa Bay.
Several primary factors have destroyed Hatley’s record in the draft room: the 1998 knee injury to Enis; drafting to fill needs instead of adding the best possible overall players; poor reads on personality elements to high picks; and lack of impact players in the late rounds of the drafts.
Enis was the most sought-after back of his draft. On draft day, Jacksonville and New England tried to deal up to select him.
He was averaging more than 4 yards per carry as a rookie before his knee injury. But his torn left ACL left him a marginal player the following season and shifting him to a superfluous fullback spot last year finished him in Chicago.
That was Hatley’s first, and therefore, signature pick. The Bears are still looking at running back, to the point of considering TCU’s LaDainian Tomlinson this year.
The 1999 draft unraveled for the Bears when they traded down to select McNown. Hatley held the seventh overall pick and had far higher grades on cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Chris McAlister. But the Bears thought they had to have a quarterback, so dealt themselves out of two possible franchise cornerbacks, now starting for Washington and Baltimore, respectively, and into McNown at No. 12.
McNown’s abilities were questioned at the time. His maturity and professionalism are in doubt now, as they were with Enis. If Hatley could go back and do some things differently, he would look more closely at some of the intangibles.
“Maybe we could’ve dug a little deeper on some things on the personal part of it,” Hatley said. “Maybe we didn’t dig as much as we should’ve right off the bat. But our means to do that now is better, between the media and getting things about players. Now, if the guy got a parking ticket in high school, you can find out about that.”
Or about allegedly improper use of handicapped parking spaces, an issue for McNown at UCLA.
Hatley was hired in May 1997 to succeed Rod Graves as head of Bears personnel, coming from the Kansas City Chiefs where he had been the pro personnel director.
Then-President Michael McCaskey gave Hatley approval for an organizational structure, with pro and college directors and more scouts, that McCaskey had denied Graves and which had undermined the Bears’ mid-1990s drafts.
But when McCaskey handed Hatley the task of screening possible successors to Dave Wannstedt in 1999, McCaskey ignored Hatley’s recommendations, ultimately choosing Dick Jauron on the advice of San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci.
Hatley’s contract was extended three years last January after a contentious negotiation with new President Ted Phillips that left some hard feelings and doubts about Hatley’s long-term outlook in Chicago.
But all of that, as well as questions about Hatley’s relationships with others in the organization, have been pushed to the background by the urgencies of the draft. That has included taking hard looks at the Bears’ roster as well as possible additions.
“Overall, it’s just one of those things,” Hatley said. “You learn this through experience. The more you do it, the more players you see and have recall on. It’s easier then to say this back is like that back or this wideout like that one. That just helps you, that and knowing your football team better.”
Surgery: Safety Tony Parrish underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last Thursday and will need 4-6 weeks to recover, the Bears said. The Bears signed safety Larry Whigham and cornerback Donny Brady to two-year contracts.
Hatley’s record on draft day
Tribune football reporter John Mullin analyzes Bears personnel chief Mark Hatley’s three drafts:
1998
FIRST ROUND
Curtis Enis, running back
Held out, emotional immaturity undermined talent, torn ACL ended hopes for franchise back. Now with Cleveland.
SECOND ROUND
Tony Parrish, safety
Immediate starter, impact player has started 48 of 48 NFL games.
THIRD ROUND
Olin Kreutz, center
Pro Bowl alternate in ’99, ’00 despite missing 9 games.
OTHER NOTABLES
FOURTH ROUND
Alonzo Mayes, tight end
16-game rookie starter regressed, traded and inactive with Miami for 11 games last season.
SIXTH ROUND
Pat Mannelly, long snapper
Rated one of NFL’s best, signed 5-year deal last month.
1999
FIRST ROUND
Cade McNown, quarterback
Rookie promise, then 1-9 as starter in ’00 season marked by immaturity, unprofessionalism.
SECOND ROUND
Russell Davis, def. lineman
Immediate starter, benched by midseason and cut before ’00.
THIRD ROUND
Rex Tucker, guard
Has shot to be starting LG but needs to take big step.
OTHER NOTABLES
THIRD ROUND
D’Wayne Bates, wide receiver
Big disappointment, active less than half the time.
Marty Booker, wide receiver
Impressive rookie season, didn’t progress and backslid in ’00.
FOURTH ROUND
Warrick Holdman, linebacker
Won starting job as rookie, did not take big step last season before knee injury.
Rosevelt Colvin, linebacker
Beat out Urlacher before last season at strong side, then injured.
FIFTH ROUND
Jerry Azumah, defensive back
Rapid progress converting from RB to CB but still not at starter level.
2000
FIRST ROUND
Brian Urlacher, linebacker
NFL defensive rookie of the year; franchise pick.
SECOND ROUND
Mike Brown, safety
Immediate starter settled into FS job.
OTHER NOTABLES
THIRD ROUND
Dustin Lyman, tight end
Still learning TE job after converting from college LB.
THIRD ROUND
Reggie Austin, defensive back
Injured all season; intriguing DB because of blazing speed.
SIXTH ROUND
Paul Edinger, placekicker
Solved Bears’ kicking problems nicely.
Chicago Tribune.
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Wednesday, Tribune columnist Skip Bayless criticized Bears’ personnel boss Mark Hatley. He talks more about it on ChicagoSports.com at: www.chicagosports.com/go/insidethewake
