Matt Nagy Takes a Similar Approach to a Chicago Coaching Icon

For some time now I’ve been trying to get a feel for the coaching style of Matt Nagy. Based on early impressions, a few things have become clear. He’s intelligent, cordial with the media, hyper-competitive, and a leader both in his ability to motivate and critique his players regardless of their status on the roster. These are things good head coaches must do, and that’s why his Chicago Bears are 8-3.

However, I still couldn’t quite grasp a name he reminded me of. That is until Nagy began handling injuries on his roster. It’s become apparent that the head coach is not the type of guy to rely on the need for his stars. He willingly sat Khalil Mack and Allen Robinson for two weeks against the Jets and Bills despite reports they likely could’ve played sooner.

Now he’s doing the same with Mitch Trubisky. The quarterback already sat last week against Detroit and will again in New York. So far Nagy is 3-0 in his decision to do this. His belief in the team’s ability to navigate through injuries by having others elevate their play has worked wonders thus far. That’s when a name popped into my head.

Nagy acts like the football version of Phil Jackson.

Matt Nagy employs a similar “team-win” mentality that Jackson did

Jackson became head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1989, relieving his former boss Doug Collins. He was tasked with the job of finding out why the supremely talented roster that featured Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright, and John Paxson couldn’t get past the reigning champion Detroit Pistons.

It didn’t take long for him to arrive at a conclusion. Collins, for all his prowess, was leaning too heavily on the starters. He never made a concerted effort to get the entire team more involved. Jordan and the starters played extended minutes every night. While they were able to do that for most of the year, it tends to hurt deep in the playoffs when legs really start to get tired.

Jackson wanted to change that by getting the entire team more involved. That came by taking some minutes away from the starters and spreading them out to players on the bench.

1988-1989 season (last under Collins)

1989-1990 season (first under Jackson)

1990-1991 season (first NBA title)

As one can see, Jordan’s minutes went from 40.2 to 37 in the space of two seasons. That may not sound like a lot, but spread over 82 games that’s 262.4 fewer minutes he had to play. Meanwhile, other players on the bench were getting more involved and started to feel like they played a greater role in the team’s success. After winning 47 games in 1988-89, they won 55 in their first season under Jackson and then 61 in 1990-91, ending it with their first NBA championship.

This is the mentality Nagy has displayed since taking over. Think about it. As explained before, his willingness to sit starters longer than anticipated serves two purposes. Obviously, it gets the starter healthy, but it also gives others on the roster a chance to prove their worth in helping the team win.

Then there’s the conduct Nagy has had on the field during games. The ball is not going to any favorites. Everybody gets chances. Thus far in 2018 seven different offensive players have touched the ball 30 times or more. Last season under Dowell Loggains? Only four players earned that honor. He wants everybody thinking their number could be called at any moment. That way they’re always ready.

This is exactly what Jackson did years ago with his shuffling of the minutes. The fact that Nagy has that same mindset is more than a little encouraging about the Bears’ future.