Should the Chicago Bears consider Pat Fitzgerald over Matt Nagy?
Should the Chicago Bears replace Matt Nagy with Pat Fitzgerald?
It appears that we have hit that time of the year again when NFL coaches are feeling their seats start to heat up. Some, like Adam Gase, are completely engulfed in flames. When it comes to this point of the NFL season, we hear names from both the college ranks and NFL coordinators. The Chicago Bears are not immune to these conversations, especially with how poor the offense has been this season and last.
When the team finds a way to drop to .500 after a 5-1 start, there have to be rumblings of movement within the coaching staff and even higher up the hierarchy. The possibility of Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace being left to run this team come 2021 is closing somewhat quickly. Instead, rumors are starting (all from unreliable sources and mostly fans) that Nagy and Pace are now on the hot seat.
Personally, I do not think either will be fired, even if I have come around to the idea. Recently, our correspondent Cody Young wrote about three candidates who would be considered dream replacements for Matt Nagy should he be removed as the Chicago Bears head coach. One of them actually included Pat Fitzgerald.
The thing is, should the Chicago Bears even be considering Fitzgerald for the position should they remove Nagy? This is a tough call. Many college coaches who jump to the NFL for the first time struggle to succeed, but recently the trend has been looking better. Kliff Kingsbury has been doing some great things in Arizona and Matt Ruhle looks to be doing well in Carolina. Could Fitzgerald find similar success or even better, could he be the next Pete Carroll?
Pat Fitzgerald has made it known he would be interested
Although Pat Fitzgerald has seen his name floated around for previous head coaching jobs, Fitzgerald has never truly shown interest himself. Well, now it turns out he is interested in being the Chicago Bears head coach if the opportunity presents itself.
In fact, it turns out the Bears would be the only team he’d be interested in leaving Northwestern for should he make the jump to the NFL. The fit would honestly be a solid one. Fitzgerald turned the Northwestern program around since becoming the head coach in 2006.
He has a record of 104-79 during his tenure at Northwestern. During that span, he has led Northwestern to nine bowl games. Prior to that, the Wildcats had only been to six bowl games over a span of 123 seasons. Clearly, Fitzgerald has been doing plenty of things correctly as a head football coach.
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Again, my only concern here is will he be able to transfer that strong pedigree to the NFL? Fitzgerald is a great football coach. He isn’t the “offensive mind” that I think many teams covet, but I guarantee this Chicago Bears running game would not be as bad as it has been under Matt Nagy. I could not guarantee the win-loss record would be any better though. What do you think? Would you welcome Fitzgerald as the Chicago Bears’ next head coach?