Matt Nagy is always trying to find creative ways to motivate and help his players be better. One thing about the COVID-19 pandemic that has actually worked in his favor is being able to bring in more guest speakers via Zoom. Not just for speaking to the entire team too. He’s able to break it down even further to just single position groups with players being able to interact with them.
Albert Breer of The MMQB spoke to Nagy about this. One group of players who seemed to take the most advantage of this, by design or otherwise, was the quarterbacks. Recently they met with an unnamed quarterback and ended up picking his brain for quite a long time on the intricacies of this offense. Specifically one of the areas that Mitch Trubisky has struggled with the most.
They can ask questions. They can trade ideas. There can be real conversation.
“It’s way more intimate, it’s real authentic, there’s no bulls—,” Nagy explained.
And so it was that, a few days back, a former quarterback with a background in the offense going back a couple decades was invited into the quarterback room, and entered with the intention of breaking down a single play. He, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles and Tyler Bray, and Chicago’s cadre of quarterback coaches, went over footwork. They went through the progression. They talked adjustments and execution.
Before they knew it, they’d spent an hour together. On a single play.
Matt Nagy knew exactly where he needed to focus his teaching
Who could this mystery QB have been? Probably someone of considerable note if it’s being kept secret. The list of names that have a substantial background in this offense is plentiful. There’s Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brett Favre, and Donovan McNabb who all fit that window of “going back a couple decades.” Any one of them would be a beyond fruitful brain to pick regarding how to better execute the system.
Nagy’s offense has its foundations in the West Coast system forged by the late, great Bill Walsh. There are obvious differences today but the concepts are largely the same. For a quarterback, footwork and timing while going through progressions are vital to executing it properly. This has continued to be the Achilles heel for Trubisky since he entered it two years ago. Nagy said at the end of last season that footwork remains a big hurdle the QB has yet to clear.
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So credit him for calling on somebody who understands how important it is and can explain why.
