It has been one week since the Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace due to the team not making the playoffs in 2021. Last week, The Athletic’s article written by Kevin Fishbain and Adam Jahns detailed the behind-the-scenes decision-making that has plagued the Bears’ organization for the past decade. The report also discussed Nagy’s dislike for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The lack of faith in Trubisky and the coach’s inability to admit fault for his own offense’s shortcomings resulted in many people losing their jobs with the organization.

Report from similar sources said they Matt Nagy never wanted Mitchell Trubisky, as Trubisky never checked Nagy’s boxes in what he wanted in a quarterback… 🤔

— Ryan Fedrau (@the_fed_23) January 14, 2022

Nagy Allowed Other To Take The Blame For The Offensive Failures

When Pace hired Nagy in January of 2018, The Bears’ general manager believed he was hiring a potential offensive innovator that would develop the team’s first-round quarterback, drafted the prior year. What appeared to be a perfect head coach quarterback match initially eventually was exposed as a complete lie as the offensive coordinator hired from the Chiefs never thought highly of Trubisky. In Nagy’s first year, the Bears would win the NFC North Division as the second-year quarterback would be the first Bears’ quarterback to be named to the Pro Bowl since Jim McMahon in 1985.

Heading into the 2019 NFL season, there were massive expectations as the Bears were considered as a Super Bowl favorite, with many analysts believing that Trubisky could compete for an MVP after having another offseason in Nagy’s offense. The 2019 season would be an offensive failure as the Bears’ offense would rank in the bottom five of most offensive categories. Trubisky struggled, including a disappointing season-opening loss against the Packers, as Nagy decided not to give his quarterback any snaps during the preseason.

Mitchell Trubisky in 2019 and his NFL ranks (min. 100 passes attempted) #Bears pic.twitter.com/75Aoy7y6o8

— Ryan Heckman (@RyanHeckmanFS) December 30, 2019

Many viewed the Bears’ offensive shortcomings as Trubisky’s fault, as his poor play was one of the contributing factors for the offense’s failure. In The Athletic’s article, it was detailed how several quarterbacks believed that it was Nagy’s offensive scheme that was the main issue for the lack of production, and not solely the quarterback’s fault.

Following the 2019 season, the Bears fired most of their offensive coaching staff, including well-respected offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. In the same offseason, Chicago would trade for former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Nick Foles, who had experience with Nagy’s offense. Despite the changes on the coaching staff and having a quarterback that knew the offensive system, the Bears’ offense in 2020 performed even worse than it did in 2019.

THIS JUST IN:

The Chicago Bears have fired offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, tight end coach Kevin Gilbride, and assistant special teams coach Brock Olivo.

(Via @AdamHoge)

— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) December 31, 2019

Nagy benched Trubisky during Chicago’s week 3 game against the Falcons in favor of Foles, who led the team to a come-from-behind victory. Despite the initial success against the Falcons, the former Eagles quarterback would struggle during his time as a starter for the Bears, compiling a 2-5 record while throwing ten touchdowns and eight interceptions. The continued struggle led to Nagy being stripped of his play-calling duties midway through the season.

The Bears would let Trubisky go via free agency in the offseason as many in Chicago viewed the quarterback as a draft bust due to his struggles at the quarterback position. Those views changed in 2021 as new rookie quarterback Justin Fields and veteran quarterback Andy Dalton failed to produce points in Chicago’s offensive game plan. This past season revealed that Nagy’s flawed offensive scheme was the main reason for the offensive futility seen over the last three seasons.

Matt Nagy's passing offense is averaging 173.8 yards per game, good for last in the NFL.

By comparison, Sid Luckman from 1943 to 1947 averaged 189.5 passing yards per game.

So Matt Nagy's passing offense is literally less efficient than the #Bears passing offense in the 1940s.

— Bill Zimmerman (@ZimmermanSXM) December 7, 2021

Nagy’s Stubborn Mindset Cost The Bears’ Their Championship Window

The failures of Nagy’s offense not only cost several coaches, players, and front office executives their jobs but also ruined the Bears’ championship window. Chicago’s defense has been one of the best defensive units over the past four seasons. Despite significant success on defense, the Bears compiled a 34-31 record during the coach’s four-year tenure, along with a 0-2 playoff record. Although multiple quarterbacks on the Bears pointed out the flaws in Nagy’s offensive playbook, the head coach refused to make any necessary adjustments.

The prime example of this stubborn mentality was the reluctance to design a game-plan that highlighted Trubisky’s strengths as a quarterback. The North Carolina quarterback was at his best when given half-field reads and boot-leg roll-out pass plays. The Bears’ didn’t begin utilizing these types of plays until late in the 2020 season when offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was calling plays. Trubisky would help lead the Bears to the playoffs by winning three of the last four games, throwing six touchdowns to three interceptions.

Let's give credit where credit is due. Mitchell Trubisky looks WAY better with Bill Lazor calling plays than he did with Matt Nagy.

Lazor is able to play to Mitch's strengths, and Mitch has looked a lot more confident under center because of it. Kudos to the two of them.

— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) December 20, 2020

Nagy’s reluctance to build a game-plan around Trubisky demonstrated his need to try to win his way. The coach had several quarterbacks with previous experience in his offensive system, including Chase Daniel and Foles. The problem was that neither quarterback played better than Trubisky when they started, and at times looked even worse. Fans and the media didn’t realize that the former second overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft wasn’t responsible for the Bears’ offensive failures until the new first-round quarterback in Fields, taken in this year’s draft, began to experience similar struggles this season.

New details have surfaced surrounding Matt Nagy and Mitchell Trubisky’s relationship. pic.twitter.com/jM5GDfqSV0

— BFR (@BFRMedia) January 14, 2022

In his inability to admit fault that his offensive scheme was the issue, Nagy allowed Helfrich and Hiestand to be fired, while teams avoided Trubisky during free agency last season, leading to the quarterback taking a backup role with the Buffalo Bills. Nagy’s inability to be honest with Pace resulted in both losing their jobs last week. Instead of trying to win with what worked best for the players, Chicago’s former head coach tried to make a failed system work over and over again, which ultimately led to others losing their jobs before the coach’s eventual firing.