On Tuesday afternoon the Chicago Bears introduced Matt Nagy as the 16th Head Coach in team history by General Manager Ryan Pace. In both the introduction by Pace, and in the press conference by Nagy both stated that they will make decisions based on the entire 53-man roster. I’m sorry, but I’m not buying it. This hire is all about Mitchell Trubisky and his growth moving forward, and it was obvious.
Here’s why. There were questions about Vic Fangio. Answer: We’ll attack that right after this? There were questions about defensive scheme 3-4, 4-3 what do you prefer. Answer: 10-15 percent of plays are run in that scheme, and the rest are sub-packages these days (nickel, dime, etc.), so we’ll look at that later.
Ideas on staff? Answer: Not getting into it. Turn the questioning to QB play, the answers got longer. Nagy was very detailed about the relationship in Kansas City he had with Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes, how he coached them, identifying trust, his keys to a successful QB/Coach relationship, and on and on and on. This hire is all about the Quarterback and rightfully so It’s the most important position in football and that is Nagy’s strength. Pace stated before the search he was looking for someone who could take Mitchell Trubisky to the next level. Why sugarcoat it now and say it’s about all 53 men??? Sorry Ryan I was born at night, but it wasn’t last night.’
Nagy pulled out his pre-draft notes on Trubisky and went over them in detail with Pace in the interview. Genius by the way on Nagy’s part.
I’m sure other things were discussed but QB play was #1, 2, 3, 4, and 10. Except for a pause to look at Ted Phillips and George McCaskey and see if they were still awake. Is Nagy the guy who can turn Mitchell Trubisky into an Elite level QB? Who knows? Bears fans have been starving for above average play at the Quarterback position for decades?
It needs to happen and Pace knows it. That’s why his interview process took little to no time. Nagy was his #1 choice. He has the QB pedigree, but so did Marc Trestman. We know how that worked out. In his defense, Nagy is different at least in presence. We’ll see on game day. No doubt he can command a room (at least a press conference), stating he is a “leader of men”. Guess what position he played? You guessed it….Quarterback. He showed up and walked around Halas Hall before the press conference, who’s the first player he met. Mitchell Trubisky the Quarterback.
If it’s not all about the Quarterback then let me leave you with this. The Bears have had 42 different players take numerous snaps at Quarterback since 1980. The Packers have had 4 since Brett Farve showed up in 1992. The only thing Nagy promised was “Passion and Positive Energy” and the building of a culture around it. That culture better produce a Brett Farve/Aaron Rodgers level QB for once, because that’s all Bears fans really care about.
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