Matt Nagy was once considered the coach of the future for the Bears.
When Matt Nagy was first introduced as the Chicago Bears head coach you can hear the sigh of relief heard from Bear’s fans across Chicago. We all believed he was our coach of the future, the Mike Ditka of our era. This was the coach that was going to turn around the entire Bears organization and finally bring back a Lombardi trophy to the franchise. However, after one glorious season, it has been nothing but downhill from there.
Our first impression of Coach Nagy was a good one. He was coming in from a stale John Fox era and brought in a much-needed offense mindset for the Bears. In 2018, the team finished 12-4 and he was named the NFL Coach of the Year.
Coach Nagy was also an offensive wizard, drawing up never before seen plays that had defenses around the league back peddling. Also, that year we saw Mitch Trubisky make the Pro Bowl, Khalil Mack dominate quarterbacks, and a team that was incredibly unified thanks to Nagy’s leadership traits.
When the Bears hit training camp in 2019 there was a lot of hope in the air. This team had a great 2018 and was destined to be Super Bowl contenders. However, we quickly witnessed a team that wasn’t ready for the Super Bowl. Trubisky took major steps back, the defense wasn’t so dominant, and Nagy’s play-calling was abysmal.
2020 may be a new season, but the Chicago Bears’ problems still remain.
Fast forward to 2020 and the problems still remain. Coach Nagy’s play calling is head-scratching sometimes. There were multiple attempts at a wide receiver screen on Sunday against the Colts that ended up as bad plays. Even though the play wasn’t working he continuously ran the play over and over. The Colts had it obviously well scouted and knew it was coming every time.
Speaking of play calling, we are continuously seeing that Nagy’s system doesn’t work no matter what quarterback you have back there. We are now seeing the reasons why Andy Reid decided to take away his play-calling abilities when he was with the Chiefs. There is a problem when you are the only team in the NFL not to record a rushing touchdown yet. Also, where were all these trick plays that had defenses baffled?
What happened to Nagy’s leadership?
Nagy pulled Trubisky from the Falcons game because of one interception. One can argue that it was for a plethora of reasons stemming from 2019 but where was the coach from 2018 that pulled his young quarterback aside to encourage and lead him?
Instead, there was no leadership and had sent over his offensive coordinator to let Trubisky know the news. It appeared that he was waiting for Trubisky to screw up so he could pull the plug to put in his preferred choice. Coach Nagy has changed as a coach and it hasn’t been for the better.
Coach Nagy’s downfall is disappointing. It makes us question if we are now seeing the second coming of Dick Jauron or even worse Dave Wannstedt. If the Bears are going to be successful this season, Nagy is going to have to find his coaching ways from 2018. He needs to become creative with his play calling, address his leadership calls, and somehow get this team in the right direction. If not, at season’s end the Bear’s franchise might be starting from square one.