Brian Urlacher left the Chicago Bears on less than amicable terms. Former GM Phil Emery basically ran him out of town with a less-than-ideal contract offer to play in 2013. Something the future Hall of Famer found insulting. To Urlacher’s credit, he didn’t do what so many other players have done and that’s find another team. He simply chose to retire.
After that the relationship between him and the franchise could best be called strained. Not until Emery was gone did things finally begin to thaw between the two sides. Over time it’s become apparent that Urlacher hasn’t lost his passing for the Bears. He follows them as religiously as he did during his playing days.
That might explain why he sounded more than a little ecstatic when asked during the Rich Eisen podcast on his thoughts of how their 2018 season went.
It’s apparent from that conversation that one thing stands out above all others. Matt Nagy is making believers out of people. The reigning Coach of the Year pulled off one of the greatest turnarounds in franchise history, winning the division for the first time in eight years. He’s young, personable, dedicated, and sharp.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Still, winning over somebody like Urlacher couldn’t have been easy. This is a guy who was strictly a Lovie Smith disciple. Nagy and the former Bears coaches are different in many ways. One is a defensive specialist who believes in playing it physical and conservative. The other is a brass offensive mind who wants to be aggressive. Yet they do have one thing in common it seems.
They both know how to communicate with people.
Nagy is only at the start of what he’s trying to build in Chicago. He’s in uncharted waters in many ways. No coach had ever done what he did last season for this franchise. Now he’s trying to do something that hasn’t been done in over three decades. Urlacher seems ready to buy in that he can and will.
