As Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace gets set to meet with Matt Nagy today in Kansas City in what seems to be the final first round interview of his coaching search, I’ll reflect on what we’ve learned so far. A few thoughts…
1) Pace’s candidate list included many of the names I expected going in: John DeFilippo, Nagy, Josh McDaniels, and Pat Shurmur. One glaring omission? Matt Patricia. It’s a bit stunning given Patricia’s reputation, his seemingly sterling qualifications for the job, and the fact that he was arguably the best overall coaching candidate available in this year’s “class”. Patricia has been rumored to be destined to take on the Detroit Lions’ job, but I’m surprised Chicago didn’t at least give him an interview.
It’s not like Pace’s search was 100% focused on offensive backgrounds, either. He did meet with George Edwards, Vic Fangio, and put in a request to meet with Steve Wilks (though it seems like the Bears won’t follow through on this one).
Yes, Fangio was likely a courtesy interview (plus an effort to make him amenable to staying) and Edwards was likely interviewed in order to satisfy the Rooney Rule requirement quickly as they’d have had to wait longer to interview Wilks. That’s all well and fair. But not putting a request in to meet with Patricia is certainly questionable considering Pace, at his season-ending press conference, said the Bears wanted to go after the best overall coaching candidates. Patricia would’ve fit that mold.
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2) Nagy is in a tough position interviewing a day after the Kansas City Chiefs melted down at home against the Tennessee Titans. After shredding Tennessee’s defense with ease in the first half, the Chiefs offense flamed out en route to being shut out in the second half. Marcus Mariota also took over the game and willed his team to victory, but this was a bad loss for KC all around.
The Chiefs had a weird season, but they seemed to hit their stride in December when Nagy took over play calling duties. His performance is what made his stock skyrocket among teams searching for new leadership on the sidelines. And many people were interested in how Nagy would perform calling plays in the playoffs.
Interestingly, it wasn’t clear as to whether Nagy really did end up calling plays in yesterday’s game. ESPN’s cameras repeatedly showed Chiefs head coach Andy Reid with a play sheet and barking into his headset.
I'm very curious to know if Andy Reid stripped Nagy of the play calling duties this week.
— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) January 7, 2018
Well it turns out that may have been the case, as it’s been reported that Reid may indeed have intentionally stripped Nagy of play calling duties yesterday in order to assert himself as the leading offensive mind in Kansas City.
Puzzling, to say the least. I’m sure Nagy will have a lot of questions to answer about yesterday’s game in his interviews. Hopefully he answers them well. It’s an unenviable situation.
3) By many accounts, DeFilippo crushed his interview with Pace. That isn’t surprising. DeFilippo, or “Flip”, was rumored to be the leading candidate going into the search, and his meeting with Pace probably confirmed everything Pace thought about him beforehand. What’s interesting is this nugget from Peter Schrager:
Eagles QB coach John DeFilippo has completed his interview with the Chicago Bears. Word is he’d be willing to retain Vic Fangio as DC, maintaining stability on Bears defensive side of the ball. @gmfb @NFLonFOX
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) January 6, 2018
Here’s what’s also interesting — my SM colleague, Erik Lambert, wrote about how Flip and Fangio have a connection from their days with the Panthers. Bears players spoke glowingly of Fangio when cleaning out their lockers on Black Monday, and it’s clear they, along with Pace, would like Fangio to stay on as defensive coordinator.
Biggest thing to take out of their actions w/ Fangio over the past few days- It seems evident the #Bears want to keep him & seems like a few potential HCs do too.
What we will find out soon is if Fangio actually wants to stay in Chicago. Chances seem higher than they have. https://t.co/AnFQVY3x0h
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) January 7, 2018
What remains to be seen is whether Fangio would like to stay, but this could be encouraging.
DeFilippo is my favorite candidate among the guys Pace has interviewed and I’m hoping Pace does what’s necessary to bring him to Chicago. But one thing to look out for in the second round of interviews? How well do Flip and Mitch Trubisky get along.
UPDATE 1/8: It seems Josh McDaniels may be the front-runner based on information that’s been shared this morning.
Little tidbit for Monday morning: There was a serious connection between Pace & McDaniels & the Pats OC emerged from round one of interviews as most impressive candidate.
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) January 8, 2018
This was backed up by what a source told Erik Lambert of SM. Very fascinating. There’s no doubt that McDaniels’s offense is a prime fit for Trubisky. I just hope that Josh has matured a bit since his Denver days.
4) I wanted to share this tidbit from Aaron Leming regarding Ryan Pace and how the Bears job is perceived by candidates:
Starting to get some early returns on some of the #Bears interviews so far. Have spoken with 4 different people & without giving away any specifics, I’ll just say it’s been very complimentary of Pace & sounds like they’ve made themselves a very attractive destination.
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) January 7, 2018
Ryan Pace is a good general manager. Yes, he needs to improve his free agency track record. But he is a good talent evaluator, manages the salary cap well, and represents the Bears well. Trust him.
