Grading Matt Nagy's First Week As Bears Head Coach

Exactly one week ago, the Chicago Bears hired former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as the 16th head coach in franchise history.

Nagy, who came to the Bears with both fanfare and skepticism, attacked the first order of business vigorously in his first week: Figuring out his coaching staff. And while all of the positions have not yet been filled, the staff is starting to take shape well enough to get extremely excited about it. Like, extremely extremely excited about it.

Here are the highlights:

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– OL coach Harry Hiestand from Notre Dame was Nagy’s first hire — and what a hire it was! Hiestand is one of the best OL coaches in football, counting both the college game and the NFL. Hiestand coached the Bears from 2005-2009 before departing for Notre Dame. and at ND, he has consistently churned out top prospects on the offensive line that have come to the NFL and continued their strong play. Zack Martin, Ronnie Stanley, Nick Martin, and soon to be Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey are a few examples. Hiestand is a grand slam hire. I’m excited to see what he can do with Cody Whitehair, especially. What a first impression.

If true, Matt Nagy just committed robbery. Harry Hiestand is one of the best OL coaches anywhere and a terrific addition to this staff. #Bears https://t.co/OJ1TzIrrrq

— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 10, 2018

– Mark Helfrich was hired as the Bears’ OC. Helfrich, the former Oregon OC under Chip Kelly before becoming their head coach, is best known for dominating the college game with former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. The duo was devastating together, and Helfrich is credited for making Mariota one of the best quarterback prospects to come in to the NFL in years. There were reports that Chip Kelly was interested in bringing him to UCLA to become their OC, but Nagy won Helfrich over instead. What’s interesting is that Nagy will be calling plays for the Bears, so Helfrich is undoubtedly in Chicago to help mold QB Mitch Trubisky and introduce Oregon style concepts into Nagy’s offense. You can guarantee that Chicago’s offense will be extremely exciting to watch next season.

Tarik Cohen thinking about all the possibilities in next year's #Bears offense like: pic.twitter.com/pOqZ4RZT61

— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 11, 2018

– Chris Tabor was hired as Chicago’s special teams coordinator, and he returns to the Bears after spending time with them as Dave Toub’s assistant from 2008-2010. Tabor comes from Cleveland, where he was their ST coordinator from 2011 until last year. The Browns have been devoid of talent at the bottom of their roster (which usually comprises most of the ST units) for a while, yet Tabor’s units were always still respectable. Also, Tabor’s ability to survive Cleveland’s coaching changes says a lot about what the league thinks of him. This is an underrated hire.

– And finally, last but not least, Nagy did what was thought impossible by keeping Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator. All season, it was reported that Fangio wanted to leave Chicago and return to the West Coast. GM Ryan Pace interviewed Fangio for the head coaching role (more out of respect than real interest), and that may have planted seeds of good faith with Fangio. Despite a relatively drawn out process which included Chicago denying the Green Bay Packers permission to interview Fangio, Nagy and Pace sealed the deal by getting Fangio to agree to a three year contract.

Like I said yesterday: Take a bow, Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace. Putting on a clinic in recruitment and salesmanship. #Bears https://t.co/pCxEuIdrQP

— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 12, 2018

– Not to be forgotten, the Bears have filled out a few other assistant roles as well. Charles London is the RB coach. Mike Furrey is the WR coach. Kevin Gilbride is the TE coach. Fangio is expected to retain many of his assistants on the defensive side of the ball.

But make no mistake, Nagy’s coaching staff is strong and incredibly interesting. You don’t win games in the offseason, but you certainly win respect and credibility. Any doubts about Nagy’s ability to put a staff together were erased immediately with the Hiestand hire. And at the end of the first week, he’s shattered expectations altogether. The thoughts of what he can do for this offense as the offseason continues are a bit NSFW.