Matt Nagy Points Out How He's Grown as a Head Coach

Nagy says he's learned valuable lessons on the job over the course of his three seasons

Matt Nagy's specialty was offense when he came to Chicago at age 39 as a young, untested coach.

Over the last two weeks, Nagy has shown what he's learned about defense. 

That would be defense as in defending his job.

Nagy sounded a lot like a coach defending himself when talking about the journey he's taken since his hiring by Ryan Pace.

"For me, I just go back to thinking a lot about my rookie year as a head coach in 2018 and so many things happened that you have no idea because you have never experienced it," Nagy said Friday. "Now, here I am, my third year, and I've learned so much in so many different areas in this sports world or in this head-coaching world."

Nagy has pointed out to media in the past how he keeps a journal and sometimes refers back to it to try and improve.

"I do that all the time and right now, just kind of seeing where we are at offensively, understanding how things are going, I think it's important to understand that we have to be able to adjust to have things go (well) throughout the year and we are doing that right now," Nagy said.   

The Bears stand at a crossroads for this season, if not for Nagy's career, when they play at Minnesota Sunday. It would be of great benefit to him to prove he can coach a team back from the abyss by learning from his mistakes.

Last year he drew criticism for the lack of a running game and for not using Mitchell Trubisky in ways to best benefit the team. He was too inflexible, it was often suggested. Nagy knew only the Kansas City offense and wasn't going to deviate, this line of thought went. His classic comment was said to be he wasn't brought to Chicago to run the I-formation.

Now he's pointing out how they've changed with the flow, and of this there is no doubt.

The offense looks the way it should with Trubisky at quarterback because he can't sit in a pocket and read a defense like an accomplished veteran NFL passer. He has an ability to run and throw on the run. By rolling one way, he only needs to read half the field.

Last week Bears players came to Nagy's defense and talked about how the team continues to play hard for him, another factor many look to in deciding whether a coach needs to be retained.

"We want to play for him all the time," linebacker Danny Trevathan said.

The effort has remained there, despite hard times and calls for Nagy's job.

"Stuff is going to get handled out there, but we know we've got to control what we can control, and that's winning games and the way we're playing and our effort," Trevathan said. "We're not worried about all of that stuff. That stuff will sort itself out. We just know that we like the man that's in charge, ahead of us, our head coach. So when we go out there, we've got to make him look good."

Last season there were also questions about Nagy being too much of a micromanager.

No one can doubt this has changed to some extent after he described the Bearsr play-calling setup this week. Bill Lazor remains the play caller and everyone has input.

"Im learning a lot, whether it's delegation or it's trust, whatever it is it's important and I think I've grown a heck of a lot as a head coach from Year 1 to Year 3," Nagy said.

The question for Bears management is whether there will be a Year 4.

If Nagy gets the Bears back full blast into the playoff chase with a win Sunday, the answer seems fairly clear. With woeful Jacksonville on the slate next week, a win this week could virtually ensure the Bears at least a .500 year, but they'd likely need to win the finale with Green Bay to get a playoff spot.

Whether growth as a coach without a second playoff berth in three years is enough for Nagy to retain his job is something for the McCaskey family to decide.

In the past, the measuring stick has seemed on the friendly side even for coaches with losing records. 

With this growth weighing down on Nagy's side, it's hard to see how he'd be replaced.

Still, a finish as poor as their performance during their recent six-game losing streak could render all of these talking points worthless.

He may have come a long way but there's still work to be done this season.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven