There are many reasons why Matt Nagy has become public enemy #1 for Chicago Bears fans. Most of it stems from his continued failures to elevate the offense from the bottom of the NFL. While there are plenty of problems with it, most of the anger stems from the coach’s odd refusal to make significant changes to the overall scheme. While he wants to run a system similar to what he ran in Kansas City, the fact is the Bears haven’t had the quarterbacks equipped to do so. First with Mitch Trubisky and now Justin Fields.
The particular demands of the position in this offense are significant. Especially from a field processing point of view. The quarterback must be quick in that regard. They have to understand where to go with the football and when at all times. That is a lot to put on the plate of young guys who had never done it before. Why not adjust the system to better fit what they do well? Then as they grow, steadily filter in more plays of that type.
Nope.
Nagy’s changes have been little more than superficial. While the Bears are running the ball more, the foundations of the offense remain the same. Is he really that stubborn to make a genuine change? At last, tape experts have reached a realization. The reason the head coach won’t change the system isn’t that he doesn’t want to. It is because he can’t. The man is incapable of readjusting things to fit his personnel. Ted Nguyen of The Athletic did a deep study of what happened in Tampa Bay. He came to a troubling conclusion regarding the handling of Fields.
“He can’t process like a rookie, he has to process like a veteran to make this offense work…
…The option game gave Lamar Jackson time to develop as a passer while helping their offense become one of the most explosive in the league. The Jaguars have involved Trevor Lawrence in the run game more and it’s paying dividends in Jacksonville. One of the most effective parts of the Bears’ offense is their ability to run under center with Herbert and they don’t have to get rid of that but they should be mixing in a heavy dose of option and designed runs with Fields. Right now, the Bears are limited by a lack of talent but they are calling offense for a quarterback that Fields simply isn’t.”
He wasn’t the only one to have such concerns either. Dan Durkin is another tape specialist who has covered the Bears for years for The Athletic and other outlets. He appeared on 670 The Score to talk about his findings. Now more than ever he is convinced Nagy is nothing more than a guy trying to imitate Andy Reid.
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.@djdurkin says #Bears' Matt Nagy "can only coach a scheme he was taught."
"He has been exposed as somebody that was propped up by Andy Reid. He's not Andy Reid," Durkin says.
Full interview with @LaurenceWHolmes: https://t.co/rop32mT7Fj pic.twitter.com/pHGzbOHMIu
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) October 27, 2021
Matt Nagy sold the Bears on something he simply isn’t
There were warning signs even in the earliest days that the head coach was clinging a little too tight to his connection to Reid. It was obvious the man saw the future Hall of Famer as a mentor. Somebody worth mirroring as a coach. The problem is he isn’t Reid. Both in terms of personality and style. A great irony in all of this is that Nagy loves the phrase, “Be you.” Too often it’s been obvious his phrase was, “Be Andy.”
Sadly it appears the Bears got lured into a trap. The Reid coaching tree had been remarkably fertile in producing future quality head coaches up the start of 2018. Both John Harbaugh and Doug Pederson had won Super Bowls. It made sense that plucking from that tree could produce the long-elusive results the team was looking for on offense. Sadly, as is so often the case for this organization, the tree was already picked clean of the best fruits.
Now here they are.
Stuck in the same vortex of pain they’ve been in for decades. If they’re not careful, they could end up ruining another promising young quarterback with their misfires at head coach. They have to find somebody who knows what he is doing. Somebody who has their own ideas and plans. Not just trying to mimic the plans of others. Matt Nagy has had four years. It isn’t working. He has to go.