Matt Nagy is a difficult spot. Expectations for his Chicago Bears were astronomical in 2019. They’d just come off a 12-4 season and looked like a team poised for a possible Super Bowl run. Then things fell apart. His offense bottomed out to 30th in points scored for the season and the defense wasn’t able to bail them out with a ludicrous amount of takeaways this time. This will mark the seventh time in 10 years the Bears will finish without a winning record.
Nagy understands that the NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. He may have done good things in 2018, but that no longer matters. All people understand about him now is that he failed to capitalize on that success and that his offense, his baby, was the primary reason for it happening. The only thing left to ask is whether he plans to do anything about it? He could keep things the same and just hope the results are better in 2020, but that seems unlikely.
His job will be on the line and by the sound of it, he knows that. This is why he didn’t immediately dismiss the idea that changes are possible. Including his own coaching staff.
“That’s a part of my job as a head coach, is to make sure that I look at all silos. Whatever that is, I need to make sure that I do that. And it’s hard right now when you’re in the middle of everything, to be able to come to emotional decisions either way — players, coaches, etc. But that’s something that we handle when the time comes.”
Matt Nagy will sink or swim by admitting mistakes
Ultimately this coming offseason will be determined by how open-minded Nagy is. Will he be willing to admit he might’ve made some mistakes in regards to his coaching staff and make changes? A lot of people don’t believe he has it in him. He’s too much of a good guy. He is so into the idea of a team being a family and family must stick together even in hard times. While that is a nice idea in theory, it doesn’t apply too well to football.
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History shows that the most successful coaches are the ones who are able to run their teams like what it is. A business. If you don’t perform your job, then I’ll go out and find somebody who can. Sean Payton has done it for years in New Orleans. Bill Belichick does it. John Harbaugh does it. Follow most of the top coaches in the league and they make changes when they become necessary. Nagy has reached the first time in his professional career where it’s on him to make that decision.
It would seem he’s at least open to the idea.
