The beleaguered Chicago Bears head coach has had an excellent two weeks moving himself and the team forward.
Give credit to Matt Nagy. Do it.
I know it is hard, especially for many diehard Chicago Bears fans, but Nagy has earned some praise.
Nagy is not the offensive genius that he probably still somewhere believes he is. His press conference skills are cringeworthy. But, his ability to realize when he is up against a tidal wave of discontent and quickly pivot is borderline exceptional.
Nagy gave up play calling duties last year in the middle of the Bears six game losing streak. That decision ultimately led to the Bears making the playoffs and Mitch Trubisky having his best stretch as a Bears quarterback.
Bears: Matt Nagy made right call with Justin Fields
It wasn’t good enough for Trubisky to even get an opportunity to compete for a starting position, or for the Bears to look like they belonged on the same field with New Orleans in the playoffs. But making the playoffs, with Ryan Pace roster construction and another season of .500 or better football, did not crush his resume.
Disappointingly, Nagy proceeded to get in his own way again taking back play calling duties in the offseason. Someone, Pace, should have stopped him. Rather than compound the problem, Nagy has now quickly pivoted back, realizing he was hurting himself and the team.
Nagy’s strengths are as a cheerleader, being Mr. Positive. Clap wildly on the sidelines. Empower others to do their jobs. Have fun on the team plane and tell everyone how cool it was that some guys were reading, others were sleeping, some even watched a movie as he did enthusiastically last year when the Bears started out 5-1.
The more Nagy can let go of his desire to receive credit, i.e. “everything runs through me” the better off he and the Bears will be.
Nagy has one job this year — support the heck out of Justin Fields to become an NFL quality starting quarterback as quick as possible. There is enough left in the Bears defense that if Fields can be competent or better, the Bears should be able to finish close to or over .500 with a little bit of injury luck.
If that happens, Nagy will get a bulk of the credit, and he will get it cause he got out of the way. We have seen many coaches and executives get in the way and ultimately cost themselves and the team. Egos are dangerous.
If Nagy can avoid the ego pitfall, realize his strengths, let offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator John DeFillipo bring Fields along he will have done his job. Nagy can support Fields with positive talk and be there to listen to his young talented quarterback. Take him to lunch or for a spin around Lake Forest.
Nagy’s chance to turn his Bears coaching career into a long one rest on his ability to rest more and let others do the work. And get out the pom poms.