Matt Nagy knew he couldn’t keep things the same going into 2020. Going 8-8 and fielding the 29th ranked offense in the NFL fell directly at his feet. The pressure on him next season would be astronomical if he didn’t at least make some changes to his coaching staff. So, fair or not, three guys were fired. Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, and tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride.
Things seemed to be going smoothly at first. Chicago rapidly found its next line coach in Juan Castillo. The longtime veteran served for over a decade under Andy Reid in Philadelphia and won a Super Bowl with John Harbaugh in Baltimore. Two guys Nagy served with. It was a no brainer to bring him up from Michigan to join the staff. However, since then things have gone silent on the staff search.
There are rumblings it’s not entirely by design either. Nagy is having some trouble securing particular guys of choice. Especially for the offensive coordinator spot. I reached out to a source who’s had strong connections to the coaching staff in recent years and was told there is a lot of caution around the Bears.
“There’s some resistance around the league from coaches about joining the staff given Matt Nagy could be out next off-season. The rumblings of no offensive coordinator are real given no true options may want to come there.”
This makes sense.
Nagy is under a lot of heat this coming year. Ownership was not happy with how the 2019 season went, especially in regards to the offense. One the head coach himself directed personally. Coaches don’t want to join staffs that might be dismissed entirely after one season. Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog who also has strong sources and was on top of the Castillo hiring posted this on Thursday.
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Matt Nagy could be taking trendy approach to rebuild
By the sound of things, Nagy is a tough spot. Finding a good offensive coordinator who would be willing to not call plays is one thing. Finding one willing to uproot himself to Chicago with the danger of only being there one year is another. This means the head coach may have to rethink how he structures the offensive staff. One rumor going around is that he might embrace a style that has become more popular lately.
One that has no offensive coordinator. Instead, the Bears would run with two primary assistants under Nagy. A passing game coordinator and a running game coordinator. This is a style embraced by two of the top young coaches in the league. Kyle Shanahan does it out in San Francisco as does Sean McVay in Los Angeles. Since both are essentially the offensive coordinators themselves as play callers, it makes sense.
Nagy can do the same. Castillo would be the run game coordinator for the Bears while quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone would get a minor promotion to run the passing game. For the people eager to see Nagy give up the call sheet, this is not the news they wanted to hear. That said, it does streamline the communication process and might make things run a little more smoothly.
Nothing is set in stone though as the Bears continue to explore their options.
