Last week I reported that the Chicago Bears had begun the process of evaluating potential head coaches they could hire next offseason. This was in response to the team’s disastrous showing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where they were thoroughly demolished 38-3. The subsequent defeat at the hands of San Francisco on Halloween did nothing to change that. Now it appears word has begun to spread that Matt Nagy is likely out.
Benjamin Allbright of KOA 850 AM in Denver, one of the more respected NFL insiders out there, appeared on Sports Talk Chicago with Jon Zaghloul to discuss the situation with the Bears. After talking about the development of Justin Fields, he was asked point blank whether Nagy was gone at the end of the 2021 season. His response was emphatic. Not only is he out, but the organization is already researching replacements with one name leading the pack.
Understand that Allbright doesn’t just throw these things out there.
He has a strong reputation for accuracy when he makes declarations like this. If he says Nagy is out, then he has spoken to multiple sources on the subject. The mention of Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as the “leader in the clubhouse” for the job also isn’t a shock. SM sources mentioned his name a number of times as a primary target for interviews. That George McCaskey would eye him makes sense.
Daboll has played a big part in the development of star quarterback Josh Allen. The Bills offense is one of the best in the NFL. Given how similar Allen is in skill set to Justin Fields? The logical thing to do would grab the guy who helped turn him into such a great player. As Allbright said though, it takes more than being a good Xs and Os guy to have success as a head coach. Can Daboll lead and command a locker room? The Bears seem intent on finding out.
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Matt Nagy failed in his ultimate objectives
That was to produce winning seasons for the Bears and to fix the offense. He had some success with the former, going 12-4 in his first season. However, the team slid to 8-8 over the next two. Now they’re 3-5 and in danger of having their worst season since 2017. As for the offense. It is ranked dead last in most categories this year and has never ranked higher than 21st since he arrived.
It probably didn’t help Matt Nagy that Fields played his best game of the year while he was sitting at home. Though the head coach deserves credit for his leadership qualities, there are too many deficiencies elsewhere to justify him keeping his job for a fifth season next year. Not when he’s entering the final year of his contract.
Another question centers on GM Ryan Pace.
Will he join Nagy out the door or will the Bears decide to keep him? There isn’t a lot of certainty on that front. While Pace has made his own mistakes, he’s at least done more of his job well than the coach has. That might be enough to save him, but some don’t think so. It might be best to just wipe the slate clean. Either way, it’s becoming undeniable that Nagy is all but gone.