By late January of this year, Kyle Long already knew that Matt Nagy would be his head coach. The Chicago Bears made that official a few weeks back. The Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator emerged on team radars with his work during the 2017 season. A time where Alex Smith made his fourth Pro Bowl and the Chiefs finished fifth in the NFL for total offense.
So Long already had an idea of what the Bears got. GM Ryan Pace likely told him about Nagy and he heard what experts had to say as well. The starting guard thus showed no hesitation expressing his excitement about the future. This represents the first young offensive coach Long has gotten to play for.
Little did he know just how strong the Nagy reputation was. Weeks after the hiring became official, Long got an additional, unprompted pitch from a surprising source. Not only that, but it came during a somewhat unrelated event too.
Kyle Long got a Matt Nagy plug during NFC championship game
The NFC championship between the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings might seem like the last time and place for Long to hear his new coach get talked up. Yet that’s exactly what happened. He and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce were together in his family room watching their brothers advance to the Super Bowl. Kyle is, of course, brothers with Eagles defensive end Chris Long. Travis is brothers with Eagles center Jason Kelce.
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Having watched his former offensive coordinator Doug Pederson lead Philly to success, Kelce freely told Long he can expect the same from Nagy.
Kyle Long was standing in the family room with Travis Kelce after their brothers won the NFC Championship, and said Kelce hit him and said "Oh, you guys have Nagy now. You’re gonna be awesome."
— JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) April 3, 2018
It seems Long himself has started to come towards that same conclusion. He explained his initial impression of Nagy during the same interview. Suffice to say the veteran lineman came away with positive feelings about where the offense and the Bears are headed.
Kyle Long on Matt Nagy: "Straight shooter, confident. He’s an offensive genius and if he can make Mitch’s job easier I’m all for it."
— JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) April 3, 2018
The work Nagy did with Smith in Kansas City speaks for itself. Smith went to no Pro Bowls without Nagy as his coach. He’s gone to four since they came together in 2013. This isn’t counting the quality play Nagy got from Chase Daniel and Patrick Mahomes in limited action the past couple years. Throw in the fact that Nagy is a big fan of Trubisky? This feels like a situation made to flourish.
If Long returns healthy and regains his dominant form at right guard, this could be a fun year for Chicago Bears football.
