Nobody can ever say Matt Nagy hasn’t done his homework. He understands the job that’s ahead of him. He was hired to help the Chicago Bears win, yes. However, most fans believe his primary duty is to help Mitch Trubisky be the quarterback he’s capable of being. Doing that will lead to the winning part by default. So far people aren’t satisfied with the results.
Is that fair considering it’s been just two games? Installing an NFL offense takes time. Especially one as complicated as Nagy’s which has roots in the famous West Coast system invented by the great Bill Walsh. All the great quarterbacks who have played in some variation of it tend to take a year or two to acclimate.
Asking Trubisky to dominate defenses after just a couple months of learning the scheme with an entirely new receiving corps on top of it? That’s a bit much. Still, Nagy knows he has to keep the young quarterback from getting discouraged through the struggles and the relentless criticisms coming from the outside. For this, he dug up a little tactic employed by Hall of Famer and two-time champion Bill Parcells.
Matt Nagy using a crafty motivational tactic to help Trubisky
Parcell understands the difficulties of coaching the quarterback position. He went through similar growing pains during his early years with the New York Giants. Like Nagy, he inherited a former top draft choice in former 7th overall pick Phil Simms. Like Trubisky, Simms came from school not really known for its rich football history in Morehead State.
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His first few years were a struggle. Parcells even benched him for a season in 1983. Finally by 1986, they’d found a workable relationship, but Simms was struggling through the first half of that season. Realizing that the team had a shot to win the Super Bowl with their great defense and strong running game, he knew to elevate Simms was paramount.
So he met with the quarterback before a critical game against Minnesota and laid his cards on the table.
It’s hard to argue the results. Simms finished that season on a tear, delivering an MVP performance in a 39-20 rout of Denver in the Super Bowl. Nagy every so quietly just employed the exact same tactic following the Bears’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Just look at what he said when asked about Trubisky’s two interceptions in the first half.
“No I don’t care at all about what happened. I’ll never care about what he did. I don’t care if he threw four picks in the first half. I’m not going to change. I have ultimate trust in him in continuing to lead this offense.”
Sound familiar?
It’s almost exactly like what Parcells said. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Go out and play and I’ll always have your back. Few things are more important between a quarterback and a head coach than trust. Just look at what happened between Jay Cutler and Marc Trestman for an idea. Now that Mitch knows he won’t have to look over his shoulder every time he makes a mistake, he can play more relaxed and with more confidence.
As his knowledge and experience grow, that’s only going to lead to better play down the round.
