Matt Nagy has a lot of flaws. People are quick to point them out whenever things go wrong with the Chicago Bears, as they often have this season. Perhaps one of the most overlooked during the past couple of years is how tone-deaf the head coach is when it comes to emotionally-charged situations. This shows up most often in his press conferences when he addresses issues that he should know won’t make fans happy and yet barrels ahead anyway.
Kyle Long accused him of not being up front on such issues. A guy that prefers to beat around the bush rather than confront the problem. Perhaps the thing that can be said about Nagy is he doesn’t understand how to read the room as much as he’d like you to think. A perfect example just surfaced going into the home finale against the New York Giants. This in the form of his choices for team captains.
Now let’s get one thing straight.
The idea of rotating captains was always odd. Same as it was during the Marc Trestman years. People can’t be a leader for the week and then not. Either you’re the leader of the locker room or you’re not. Yet what made his three choices for this game so frustrating is not so much who they are but who they should’ve been. Alec Ogletree for defense, Cole Kmet for offense, and Christian Jones for special teams.
Our Week 1️⃣7️⃣ Captains pic.twitter.com/kaSFMue0HT
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 31, 2021
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So let’s get this straight. Nagy would rather have Ogletree as a captain in the home finale because he happened to play for the Giants a couple of seasons rather than Akiem Hicks. A man who gave his heart and soul to the organization and may likely be playing his last game at Soldier Field in a Bears uniform. This should help illustrate to people how little value the head coach places in the captain system to begin with.
Matt Nagy can motivate but he’s no psychologist
This is often what separates the coaches that get their team to play hard vs. the ones that get them to play well. Nagy has always shown an ability to keep his players emotionally invested every Sunday. This should not be taken away from him. At the same time, it too often feels like he can’t truly connect with the individuals behind the helmets. Like he doesn’t understand what somebody like Hicks truly means both to the locker room and Bears fanbase.
He should’ve been a permanent captain from the moment Matt Nagy got his job back in 2018. Instead, he’s been treated as just another good player on that defense. Despite clear evidence of how much the big defensive end means to it. His energy, passion, and leadership are infectious. Everybody just plays better when #96 is on the field. For Nagy to not at least give him the swan song he deserves with a captaincy for this game says plenty.
Just another reason he, unlike Hicks, won’t be missed when he’s gone.
Hicks is a free agent next March. He is 32-years old and stated during his recent press conference that he believes he can play 3-4 more years. There is no question he wants to stay in Chicago, but that may prove too difficult. Largely because he will end up looking for money similar to what he is getting paid right now ($12 million per year). Given the array of roster problems the team has, there is no way the Bears are going to pay him that kind of money.
