Chicago Bears Hot Take No. 3: Matt Nagy can stay if he gives up play-calling for good
This is now the second time that Nagy has given up play-calling, and the offense has looked noticeably better. I think it might be time the Bears realize that the offense is in a better spot with Lazor calling the plays. It wouldn’t make sense to go back to Nagy when it seems to become more and more obvious he is the lesser of the two when it comes to calling plays.
Could Matt Nagy keep his job with someone else calling plays?
There are plenty of coaches in the NFL that don’t call plays. For most head coaching jobs, play-calling is considered a bonus, not a necessity. There are a lot of responsibilities that come with being a head coach, and sometimes delegating certain tasks like play-calling to assistants can be beneficial to everyone involved.
What does Nagy bring to the Bears without play calling?
One of the main reasons Nagy was hired was because he had experience calling plays under Andy Reid. Does Nagy provide enough value in other aspects of coaching to make up for the fact that he doesn’t call plays? It would be hard to say because we don’t know exactly what goes on behind closed doors, but the product we’ve gotten on the field for the last few years has shown a lot of symptoms of bad coaching. Undisciplined penalties, lack of in-game adjustments, and growth from younger players. This likely explains Nagy’s resistance to giving up play-calling. That is what he was brought into Chicago to do, and that is the part of coaching he is the most comfortable doing.
Bottom line:
If the team is able to win games and the offense is able to score points with Nagy as coach and Lazor as play caller, then we can revisit this later. Nagy’s biggest weakness as a coach is his play-calling, but that isn’t the only issue I have with him. He has a lot he would have to do to win me and Bears fans over.