When the Chicago Bears hired Matt Eberflus as the new head coach in 2022, lots of people were skeptical. The man, while semi-successful in Indianapolis as a defensive coordinator, hadn’t earned a glowing reputation. He wasn’t on the short list of top candidates. It didn’t take long to figure out why. As you listened to the man speak, it became clear he lacked certain factors that made great head coaches. One was charisma. Eberflus came off as corny and rigid. Nothing summed it up better than his infamous H.I.T.S philosophy, an acronym for Hustle, Intelligence, Turnovers, and Smart. You could hear the eye rolling through the screen. This guy is the best replacement for Matt Nagy that the Bears could find?
Well, we might owe Eberflus an apology. At the time, most thought there was no way a coach could come up with a worse acronym for trying to describe an offensive or defensive philosophy. Ironically enough, Nagy found a way. The former Bears head coach was recently hired by the New York Giants as their new offensive coordinator. He knew he’d have to establish an identity for his group, so he came up with four words that make up the core philosophy.
- Physical
- Tough
- Smart
- Detailed
PTSD.
When they say some jokes just write themselves, they weren’t lying. The poetry of this revelation is as chef’s kiss as it gets.
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Matt Nagy continues to show how tone-deaf he is.
The man arrived in Chicago eight years ago with serious credibility. He’d helped oversee the career peaking of Alex Smith in Kansas City and the early development of Patrick Mahomes. He came with a glowing recommendation from Andy Reid, one of the best future head coach groomers in the league. Early signs were so promising, too. The Bears’ offense came out hot in 2018, finishing top 10 in scoring and sending quarterback Mitch Trubisky to the Pro Bowl. It was characterized by a mix of a strong running game and lots of creativity.
However, it didn’t take long to realize Matt Nagy was less flexible than he wanted you to believe. He clearly had a specific way he wanted the offense to function. It involved having the quarterback sling the football. Running the ball became secondary. He once said he wasn’t brought to Chicago to run the I-formation. This was telling because the Bears were having lots of success doing exactly that. It was a clear warning sign that Nagy was ignorant of his players’ strengths and weaknesses.
Some things never change.
The hilarious part about Nagy getting the job in New York is that things had grown tense in Kansas City. After winning the Super Bowl in his first year back as their offensive coordinator, the Chiefs’ offense started experiencing a considerable decline in effectiveness in 2024 and 2025. Nowhere was that clearer than with Mahomes at quarterback, who had his two worst seasons as a professional. The Giants’ bringing him to New York was fortuitous for Kansas City. It makes it look like they elected to let him go out of courtesy for a new opportunity, rather than because they didn’t want to bring him back.
Sure enough, one of the first things he does is establish an offensive philosophy with the most ironic acronym in football history. Bears fans can’t help but laugh. It is too perfect. Maybe Nagy ends up having success out east. He’ll be under the strict guidance of another great head coach, John Harbaugh. However, history says otherwise. The man lacks that certain something that makes good offensive play callers. Sooner or later, defenses will find his tendencies and exploit them.
