Matt Nagy was introduced to the Chicago Bears world at Halas Hall today. The 39-year old becomes the 16th coach in franchise history. He came across in his press conference as excited, open, honest, intelligent and fearless. While he’s thrilled to get a chance to work with quarterback Mitch Trubisky, he made it clear his first duty is to make the Bears a better team.
With that the questions began. Nagy answered them all. Among the highlights include the fact he will be the one calling plays on offense. He is committed to resolving the situation regarding defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Above everything else he’s committed to getting to work on making this team a winner.
Amidst the typical questions though, Nagy made a few surprising revelations that paint a deeper picture about his character. Some of them are truly fascinating in one way or another. Here are a few examples.
He called every play in Chiefs playoff collapse vs. Titans
Nagy says he called every single play in the second half of the Chiefs playoff loss to the Titans.
"That was a failure in my book," he said. "I felt terrible for our team."
— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) January 9, 2018
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Part of being a leader is knowing when to own up to your mistakes. It’s been speculated for days about what happened to the Kansas Chief offense in their playoff collapse against the Tennessee Titans. After scoring 21 points in the first half they were completely shut down in the second, failing to properly commit to running the ball. Many felt that head coach Andy Reid may have taken back play calling duties.
Nagy shot down those rumors without blinking. He made it clear that he called the entire game. He was responsible for the quick and the many failures that befell them in the second half. Reid and others had nothing to do with it. That was on him. It was an admission of failure that many men, not just coaches, wouldn’t make. If nothing else it was a fine message to the organization that he could be trusted to tell the truth.
Super Bowl XX was one of the first he ever saw
Nagy says Super Bowl XX is one of the first Super Bowls he recalls. Popular game in these parts.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) January 9, 2018
It seems like every head coach must be tested on whether or not they know anything of Bears history when they’re hired by the organization. Thankfully the questions didn’t press too far on that subject but Nagy did admit that his intrigue of the team began when he was young. In fact one of the first Super Bowls he can still remember vividly was back in 1985 when Chicago crushed the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. It was the high point of the franchise that still hasn’t been matched and made the players on that team folk heroes. No doubt Nagy would like to change that.
Spent six hours with Trubisky before 2017 draft
Nagy on reuniting with Trubisky today: "It was neat." Says he felt Trubisky was scripted in their 15-min combine interview, but the on-campus 6-hour meeting was "unbelievable." "Hell of a person…knows football inside and out." #Bears
— Rich Campbell (@Rich_Campbell) January 9, 2018
It’s no longer a secret that Nagy was a big fan of Mitch Trubisky coming out of North Carolina last year. Multiple sources including my own confirmed how much of a believer the young coach was in him. At last Nagy got a chance to explain how that came to be. Initially the two met at the scouting combine a few months prior but that was only for 15 minutes. At the time Trubisky came across as rigid and scripted, which is typical for those meetings.
It wasn’t until the Chiefs got a chance to meet with him personally that they got a full idea of who he was as a quarterback. Long story short? Nagy was blown away. In a meeting that spanned six hours he became enraptured by Trubisky both as a person and as a football mind. That infatuation never really went away.
He played high school ball against school founded by McCaskey family
Perhaps the most startling revelation was one that a lot of people might’ve missed. If you believe in fates and destiny than this story is a bit crazy. Nagy played his high school football at Manheim Central in Pennsylvania. This put them in the same district against J.P. McCaskey high school. It was founded in 1938 and christened with the name of John Piersol McCaskey. A man who just happens to be the great-grandfather of George McCaskey himself.
If ever there was a story that made one pause and think about planets aligning and the like, it’s crazy to think that a young man who grew to become the Bears head coach played in the same school district founded by the family who owns the team. Never mind the fact that Nagy was also mentored by former Bears safety Doug Plank who coached him in the Arena League.
Maybe some things are just meant to be.
