The saying is always the same. It’s hard to become a head coach in the NFL. The only thing harder than that? It’s staying one. Being a successful coach in this league puts an almost inhuman amount of stress on the body and mind. There’s a reason so many men each year are dismissed from the job. The simple reality was they couldn’t handle it. Matt Nagy, ready or not, has stepped into this swirling maelstrom.
Nagy feels he is prepared for the challenge. He’s spent almost a decade as an assistant including two as a coordinator. He learned at the knee of one of the best head coaches of the past two decades in Andy Reid. His time rising up the ladder was spent idly. He did exhaustive research on all the things a head coach must do, noting what worked and what didn’t.
That’s why he came off so well-prepared when he met with the Chicago Bears back in January. He studied, he asked questions, and he listened to the advice he was given. This was something he wanted. Now he has it. Yet no amount of research can truly prepare someone for everything the job brings.
Nagy found out what might be the most difficult part thus far.
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Applauding the defense is not something Matt Nagy enjoys
Keep in mind that Nagy was born and bred on the offensive side of the ball. He was a quarterback at Delaware in college and later in the Arena League. When he got to the NFL as an assistant coach he was an offensive quality control guy. Later he became a quarterbacks coach and finally an offensive coordinator. Every waking moment of his work life was geared towards hating defenses and finding any and all ways possible to humiliate them.
Here’s the problem. The head coach isn’t in charge of just the offense anymore. They run the entire team. This means he can’t just offer his praise in every practice and game to the offense anymore. He must do the same for the defense. That’s what head coaches are expected to do. According to Dan Pompei of The Athletic, this has been a huge struggle for the 39-year old.
“I can’t just be focused in on the offense like I was as a coordinator,” he said. “Now I have to be able to stand out there at midfield when I watch practice and see the defense too. When someone on defense makes a good play, I need to congratulate him, give him knuckles on an interception that Mitchell throws. As hard as it is for me to do it, I have to do it.”
Give Nagy credit.
Not a lot of coaches would be willing to admit something like that. In fact some don’t even try to embrace that reality. They basically structure their team with them running the offense or defense and the other coordinator almost acting like a second head coach. They have complete autonomy over that side of the ball. Sometimes it can work, but not often.
Nagy knows he must make it clear that he is the leader of all 53 players that will inhabit this roster moving forward. That goes for offense, defense, and special teams. They have to know that he’s the guy they look to for encouragement, discipline, and answers whenever they need it. This will pay off in the long run for Chicago.
