Matt Nagy has one more game to go as head coach of the Chicago Bears. That might seem like a dangerous presumption given how unpredictable this organization can be. Maybe so, but based on all the warning signs and my own sources, I am confident he will be relieved of his duties come January 10th. The bigger question is whether GM Ryan Pace will keep his own position and hire the next head coach or if somebody else will.
That is to be determined. In the meantime, it sounds like the Bears continue to compile a list of possible candidates they’d like to meet when the time comes. George McCaskey has gotten lots of advice from outside consultants on this though names have been difficult to come by. That is what made Brad Biggs’ recent Chicago Tribune column so interesting. He dropped the name of New York Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham as a name to watch in the upcoming head coaching cycle.
Considering how strong Biggs’ sources are, it’s difficult not to take this as a major hint.
The 42-year-old Graham, who was born in Des Plaines, was requested for an interview by the New York Jets last year. The Giants defense doesn’t rank great statistically, but the roster is thin and the ongoing struggles for the offense have affected the defense. Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley gave unprompted support for Graham before their Week 14 meeting.
“Their defense is outstanding,” Staley told reporters. “I really have a ton of respect for their defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham. I really think he is one of the top coordinators in football. I think he will be a head coach in the league. I don’t know him personally, but I have a lot of respect for his game. He’s been around a lot of good ball and I think his team has done a really good job in giving them a lot of opportunities.
“We played them last year when I was with the Rams. It was 17-9, a really, really tough game. We scored in the end to win that game, but it was a really tight game. They are extremely well-coached.”
Graham is one of those names that keeps popping up on head coach lists.
Despite working for an organization that somehow keeps getting worse, both experts and peers have noted the work he’s done for their defense. Despite working with a mostly average cast of talent, he delivered the 9th-best scoring defense in 2020. Cornerback James Bradberry made the Pro Bowl and defensive lineman Leonard Williams set a career-high with 11.5 sacks. This season he got five interceptions from second-year safety Xavier McKinney and eight sacks from rookie pass rusher Azeez Ojulari.
So it is evident that Graham is capable of developing young talent. This shouldn’t be a surprise. He’s worked under some really good coaches during his steady ascent in the NFL over the past 12 years. That includes six years under Bill Belichick in New England, one in Green Bay under Mike McCarthy, and another under Brian Flores in Miami. He has seen how winning organizations operate.
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Graham would certainly fit the Chicago Bears identity
Tough, hard-nosed, and defensive-minded. Yet it sounds like his strengths go deeper than that. As a Belichick disciple, Graham is big on the details. Players must do their jobs every single snap to have success. This is a problem that has continued to haunt the organization under Nagy. While the players do play hard, they’re too often bedeviled by their own mistakes. Somebody like Graham would make his mission to clean such things up.
That said, everybody knows how dubious the Belichick coaching tree has been over the years. Of the eight men who worked under him that eventually became head coaches, seven of them failed to win a single playoff game during their tenures. That is not a track record that inspires confidence. Of course, Graham could be different. Nagy proved to the Chicago Bears that a coaching tree is hardly infallible.
Either way, don’t be shocked if he gets a look.
Remember that SM reported Tony Dungy as one of the consultants the team has spoken to. Dungy is a major advocate for minority candidates getting more interviews for head coaching jobs. Graham would be an obvious name he’d bring to the team’s attention.
