The Bears will hire Matt Nagy as their next head coach, according to Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times. Nagy, the offensive coordinator of the Chiefs, became available over the weekend when Kansas City was eliminated from the playoffs by the Titans.
The hire is now official. Nagy will replace John Fox and become the Bears’ latest offensively geared HC, following Marc Trestman in that regard. Nagy was also in the running for the Colts’ head coaching job, interviewing on Sunday, and the Bears did not want to risk losing him. The 39-year-old offensive coordinator will now be tasked with reigniting the dormant Bears offense and putting young quarterback Mitch Trubisky on the right track.
Nagy also interviewed with the Bears on Sunday, and the storied franchise selected the second-year Chiefs OC out of a six-interview process. The Bears also met with Josh McDaniels, Pat Shurmur, George Edwards, John DeFilippo and incumbent DC Vic Fangio. This marks the latest Andy Reid disciple to land a coaching opportunity, following three-year Chiefs OC Doug Pederson — whom Nagy succeeded.
The Chiefs turned to Nagy late in the season to call plays, and the AFC West champions re-routed their season upon doing so. Kansas City won its final four games after losing six of seven during a midseason swoon. Although the Chiefs stumbled yet again in a home playoff contest, Nagy helped coax breakout slates from Tyreek Hill and rushing champion Kareem Hunt.
Nagy will also serve as the Bears’ play-caller, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). However, his first big decision will be in addressing who oversees Chicago’s defense. Mortensn reports the franchise would like to retain Fangio, but his contract expires at midnight. The veteran DC also has received significant interest elsewhere and could depart for another opportunity.
This also narrows McDaniels’ options. The perennial HC candidate has interviewed in Indianapolis and New York. ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano and NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran (Twitter link) point McDaniels as being a likelier fit with the Colts than Giants.
Alex Smith also had a career-best season under Nagy’s guidance, and the Bears will team the young coach with Trubisky after centering their search around offensive-minded leaders. Nagy was a Trubisky fan when the North Carolina product declared for the draft, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), and he’ll have the biggest say in attempting to take the raw passer to the next level in his development.
The Chiefs ranked fifth in total offense under Nagy. He’ll now helm a Bears attack that finished 30th. Affected by multiple injuries at wide receiver, the Bears relied on their ground game. Their new HC figures to attempt to augment the team’s aerial corps. Trubisky himself finished with seven touchdown passes and seven interceptions, completing 59 percent of his passes while going 4-8 as a starter.
The Bears have not produced a winning season since the 2012 campaign under Lovie Smith, and they’ll turn to Nagy to right the ship.
Sam Robinson contributed to this report.
Who?
you don’t follow the NFL much, do you?
Haha
Is Ryan Pace really a McCaskey? He makes decisions like one. This choice should get him fired in two years but then again it’s the Chicago Browns, I mean Bears
What’s so wrong with Nagy that you’re sure Pace will be fired in two years?
He would have made the same comment regardless of who was hired.
Nothing, don’t pay any attention to Strauss. He’s a troll.
I do not understand why people think this pick is questionable (other than it was made by Pace who is not the golden boy anymore). Didn’t anyone see the KC offense in the second half of the playoff game with Tennessee? All this man will need are a new DC (perhaps), 2-4 WR’s, 2 CB’s, more OLinemen, a RB back-up (Tarik is not a RB) and prayers that Pace is right about Truby.
Now that’s not an impossible task is it?
Bears 2018 next championship
Or an 0-16 parade.
Fine. Now do everything you can to keep Fangio!
Agreed. Love what he is doing for the defense.
He’s going to Green Bay!
I hope he goes to GB too. I mean why wouldn’t you want to play for a winner instead of the Bears…
Lol
Green Bay Pukers blow.
Does that make the Bears the fluffers of the NFL?
That must mean that Belichek is retiring and McDaniels will take over in New England.
huh?
BB just said he was absolutely planning on Coaching NE in 2018 so he ain’t retiring!
Fangio to the Packers seems inevitable now
why?
GB not hiring from within would shock me more. They have a board of directors, not an owner that makes decisions. They’re not interested in bringing new blood in.
The only reason GB didn’t go out of the organization for GM is because they had 3 great options in house. DC and OC they have been tied to multiple names outside of the Packers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fangio as DC and Macadoo as OC
I’d be very surprised if that happened in GB.
You are just wrong. The “board of directors” has absolutely no say in the operation of the on field decisions. Mark Murphy is the President/CEO and operates much like an actual owner would. He answers to nobody. Besides, any coordinator job is hired and fired by the head coach. Like every other team. You clearly aren’t local because this is all common knowledge. Ecspecially in the state of Wisconsin.
He’s finally got the Bears to a close to top 10 defense, knows and has developed all their players and the players love him. I’d say there’s a good chance he stays IF the Bears pony up serious dough. I would think Nagy would be thrilled if he stays.
I hope they do keep him, but I’m not sure how he feels about being passed up for the HC position.
The McCassky’s are notorious at being cheap. I expect Fangio to walk. There will be more money on the table for teams with a possibility of making the SB within the next 3 years than the hapless Bears and their addled GM who are out of the running for quite a while with all they need in terms of talent.
Very fast hire. Shows conviction.
Uh, ….
Good choice.
Agreed, even better if it means keeping Fangio.
Uh, ….
I need someone to break down how you say this dudes name
Dude, they’re having a hard time with it on 670 The Score too. I never knew “Nag – ee” was a hard name to pronounce. Not Nay-gee….. Nag-ee. As in “My wife, the Nager, nags me – the Nagee – to death about everything.”
People will lament whoever they hire if that person wasn’t a notable coaching candidate for several years like mcdaniels, or a coach from a rival team like the Vikings or packers. another reason people will lament this decision for no reason is because “Matt Nagy” isn’t exactly a “football guy” sounding name. that is partly because no hype was built up around him or at least not as much as other candidates.
me personally….. I love the decisiveness by Pace. making a decision this early makes everything work so much more smoothly leading up to the draft.
As far as everyone worshiping fangio…. I don’t get it. looking at his 3 years in Chicago his defenses ranked middle of the pack in the NFL in 2015 and 2016. This year they bumped up to fringe top 10. not exactly some unbelievable improvement. I think they could easily find a guy to slip right in should (when) Fangio leaves. Like everything else here in Chicago, Bears fans tend to over glorify the dumbest s**t…. and at the same time over exaggerate how bad something is on the bears.
bottom line…. NO ONE knows if this is a good or bad hire. the dude is a first time head coach. he literally could be the next Trestman….. or the next Sean McVay….. and then John Fox will do interviews next year saying how proud he is of Nagy…. But most off that success he is having is with a team he helped build… much like Jeff Fisher this year, haha. we shall see.
You contradict yourself throughout your entire post. I’m not even sure what your point is.
Fangio inherited an abysmal defense and has elevated them significantly while dealing with tremendous injury issues the last two years (in 2016, they lost more defensive games to jury than any other team).
His defenses in SF were highly ranked, and he receives praise for his work from analysts. I’m not sure what you expect, but he’s shown himself to be the real deal.
….. or the next Sean McVay…
There was a tremendous amount of talent that Fisher had collected on the Rams including 2 above average lines. The addition of Geoff at QB and some WR’ers made this team hum under McVay. Name the WR’ers for Truby? What quality do you see on the O-line that isn’t constantly broken? Where is the depth? Do you think Tarik can be a pro-RB with this team?….Another Pace gamble. Gamble 1: Is Truby a winning QB? Gamble 2: Is Nagy a McVay?
Pace better score with this draft class at least in getting a WR for Truby to throw. He has little to show (other than Howard/ Truby’s jury is still out) for his first drafts. It is time to score a winner at WR or make the McCassky’s have to pony up tremendous amounts of $$$ to get play making FA WR’s to join this sour mash……..
So how do Bears fans feel about this hire? I personally like, not a Bears fan but I think they needed a Offensive minded HC, they gotta keep Fangio, huge fan of that guys and would suck if they lost him.