When the Chicago Bears decided to bring back Matt Nagy for another season a lot of talk from ownership was about how the team did not quit on their head coach during a tough stretch last season. In fact, they came together and finished the season strong by making a push for the seventh seed in the playoffs.
Fans can complain about his decisions and his stubbornness, but up until now, nobody could point to him losing respect from his players. However, after the team blew last-second leads to the Steelers and Ravens, with the latter coming against Tyler Huntley, the faith that players had in their coach is starting to fade.
There has never been a definitive report that the team was losing faith in Nagy, and they have fought hard in games where they have been outmatched. However, they were embarrassed against the Bucs, and the last two losses may have been the last straw. With that in mind, there now are reports coming out that Nagy is losing the locker room.
An overwhelming number of #Bears’ players want Matt Nagy gone, league sources say. “He lost some of the locker room last season, but now it’s gone,” one source adds. One key holdup: No HC in the 101-year franchise history has ever been let go during the season.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) November 22, 2021
It is always important to consider the source, as this is not quite Adam Schefter’s credibility. However, Schultz does a podcast with Allen Robinson. By putting this out there he is putting Allen Robinson’s name behind it in some ways. If this is false, it would ruin his relationship with Robinson.
Considering Robinson did not fire back and deny this, you could assume that he is not mad that his co-host is saying this.
Fans can easily say that Nagy lost Robinson when Ryan Pace put the franchise tag on him. They played hardball with Robinson, and after a slow start, of course, it is someone on his side reporting this.
However, for Schultz to report this he likely needed one of Robinson’s teammates to corroborate. There are at the least a few players who lend credence to this report, which does mean it is the first sign of true leaks when it comes to players trusting their coach.
The timeline makes a lot of sense as well. In 2018, Nagy had the entire locker room bought in. In 2019, they fell back, but the glimmer of 2018 was still strong. In 2020, many questioned things. In 2021, he lost the locker room. That is not an out-of-the-box timeline for things to go.
With the Chicago Bears playing a winless team you will be sure to see just how bought in this team is. The Lions are bad, but they fight every week, so if Chicago is not bought into winning, they will lose on Thursday.