It looks like the Chicago Bears are planning to retain head coach Matt Nagy. Several insiders have reported this. While there still hasn’t been an official announcement, it appears the man is safe for one more year. Much to the chagrin of many disgruntled fans who believe he’s more trouble than he’s worth. What exactly has he done to make the Bears better?
They started out fine in 2018, going 12-4 and winning the division. Since then? They’ve regressed to the middle of the pack with back-to-back 8-8 finishes. If not for a change to the playoff format which expanded to 14 teams? It’s likely the Bears would’ve missed the postseason entirely again this year. Instead, they had the privilege to go down and get thumped by New Orleans 21-9. Another game that showcased Nagy’s offensive prowess by managing three points until literally the final seconds of the game.
One person who has seen enough is Sage Rosenfels.
The former NFL quarterback now works for ESPN and The Athletic. He’s covered the Bears closely for the past couple of years. During that time one thing has been made clear. He is not impressed by Nagy. Specifically in regards to how he coaches offense. For a guy who was brought in to help the Bears score more points, he is remarkably bad at his job. How bad? Rosenfels went all in during an interview for 670 The Score.
.@SageRosenfels18 roasted Matt Nagy, Bears coaches in loss to Saints:
“It was one of the worst offensive coaching performances that I’ve seen the Bears take part in over the past couple years. It was really bad from a schematic standpoint.”
Full segment: https://t.co/HugAfzPHP6 pic.twitter.com/CgrngqIgZA
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) January 12, 2021
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To him, Nagy’s biggest problem is he puts everything on the shoulders of the quarterback. His system needs the quarterback to be great in order to function at a high level. That is the absolute wrong way to build a successful scheme in the NFL. Now because he doesn’t have that great quarterback, he’s been forced to run a makeshift system similar to Green Bay and San Francisco with a bunch of coaches with no background in it. That is why the Saints had such an easy time shutting it down on Sunday.
Matt Nagy has no common sense when it comes to offense
Sure he has some innovative ideas, but that isn’t worth much when the scheme itself is nonsensical. What is the Bears’ offensive identity? Why doesn’t he draw up game plans around his best players? Why does he fail to adjust to what his players do best? These are questions people have asked for the better part of two years. Questions Nagy has no answers to.
Is he a leader? Can he hold a locker room? Sure. That’s great. Except that wasn’t the only reason he was brought to Chicago. Matt Nagy was hired to take personal control of the Bears offense and make it better. He has not done that. As a result, three precious years of a really good defense have been wasted. That more than anything is what makes the decision to retain him so baffling.
His only hope is to find a quarterback who can somehow run this system.
The odds of that happening are remote. Any move for a top veteran would be mercilessly expensive. A rookie 1st round pick probably wouldn’t help much either since the Bears don’t draft until 20th overall. So unless Ryan Pace (who is also coming back) can somehow deliver a miracle, fans will be subjected to more of this offense in 2021.