Out of all the tenuous coaching situations throughout the NFL, the one in Chicago may be the most interesting. Matt Nagy has displayed enough during his tenure as head coach of the Bears that a case can be made either way for the team to keep him or move on at the end of the season. 
After being hired in 2018, Nagy helped the team to an impressive 12-4 record, earning himself Coach of the Year honors. Back-to-back 8-8 seasons followed, however, including a six game losing streak in 2020. While the Bears made it to the playoffs that year — the second trip to the postseason in three campaigns under Nagy — things have not gone nearly as well in 2021. Another five-game skid has contributed to a 4-9 overall record, and uncertainty about his job security came to a head as recently as Thanksgiving.
Cause for optimism came in April in the form of Justin Fields being drafted 11th overall as the latest attempt to solidify the quarterback position. The former Buckeye represented not only a potential upgrade over Mitch Trubisky, but a lifeline for Nagy and GM Ryan Pace. With enough signs of franchise potential – if not results in the win-loss column along the way – there would be an argument to be made in favor of keeping the coach-quarterback relationship together at least one more year.
Things haven’t been stellar for Fields or the Bears in 2021, though. In and out of the lineup with injuries, and splitting the starting job with free agent signing Andy Dalton, Fields currently has a record of 2-7. While he has shown flashes with his legs in particular, posting 385 rushing yards and two touchdowns averaging just under six yards per attempt, he has struggled in the passing game. His completion percentage (57.6%), touchdown-to-interception ratio (six to 10) and 33 sacks taken are some of statistics that are evidence of a struggling offense, much of the blame for which has been laid at Nagy’s feet.
Have your say below regarding Nagy’s coaching future in Chicago (link for app users):
If the Bears were a smart, well run organization, Pace and Nagy would not be back.
So, Nagy will be fired before ‘22, Pace will make it another year and will be fired in ‘23, sticking the new GM with a leftover coach, cuz you can fire a HC after 1 year.
Bears are gonna Bear.
Ever heard of Freddie Kitchens?
The solution is simple, for the Bears to succeed the need to eliminate twelve “points” of personnel. They are as follows:
5 – All McCaskeys (all)
4 – Ted Phillips
3 – Ryan Pace
2 – Matt Nagy
1 – Andrew McKenna
Anything short of that, the McCaskeys are officially Packer fans.
*can’t
yes because the Bears are stupid
Chicago fans will riot if he is. Pace should be gone also. As a Packer fan I’m fine with both of them staying.
Matt Nagy has displayed enough during his tenure as head coach of the Bears that a case can be made either way for the team to keep him or move on at the end of the season. – can tell this writer doesn’t watch the bears
Is that you Virginia?
Man get help. Addiction is a terrible thing. You’re the one who doesn’t see him for what he is. A bad coach. 92%% of the polled see anyway.
Get rid of Nagy hire the Ravens OC or the OC from Saints. Fields is very similar in skill set to Lamar Jackson and Taysom Hill. Should bring in a coach who’s had success utilizing what Fields brings to the table.
As far as GM goes Mike Borgonzi should be a top candidate having worked in both the Patriots organization under Pioli and in the Chiefs under Veach.
Greg Roman did an amazing job putting together that offense for Jackson, but the downside is that offense still has yet to evolve. The same thing happened in San Francisco with Kaepernick-Roman never transitioned into a passing capable offense for the quarterback.
Now, Jackson is a better passer than Kaepernick by a huge margin, but he does still have a ways to go. Thing is, there is only so much he will grow in an offense that is still entirely predicated around a multi-faceted running attack powered by a mobile quarterback. That rushing attack is good, and allows him to use his best weapon, but long term he does need to build that experience with more complex passing routes and attacking different levels of the defense.
A lot of that is on Roman incorporating more and more of those patterns into the offense as time goes on. The Bears also don’t have nearly the same offensive line or numerous backs that they would need to make the run game as effective as Baltimore’s. In short, Roman would have a LOT of work to do to build an offense that will be hopefully be extremely good, but only for a year or two. I think you need more in place roster-wise first, and Roman also is much more a coordinator than a coach because his offense as it is is pretty short term in coach years.
Half this season, Nagy has coached and explained himself like he was TRYING to get fired. If he and Pace keep their jobs, it’s a grand act of incompetence and an absolute middle finger to the fans.
Nagy is all but gone and he knows it. Pace is going to be moved to a different position and not have drafting or hiring a coach responsibility.
I doubt it.
He shouldn’t be coaching them now, he was brought in for a singular purpose to develop top 5 pick Mitchell Trubisky. Considering he failed that AND the offense has continued to get worse since his first season I have no idea why they’d want this guy around Fields. The only explanation is cheapness, and so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s back next year so the McCaskey’s don’t have to pay two head coaches. Better to ruin another top draft pick than waste a few bucks in their mind.
Weren’t they suppose to get rid of Matt Nagy last season?
Even Matt Nagy would vote no on this poll. The real question is whether they fire Pace, which obviously should be yes, but will probly be no for some inexplicable reason (that all just boils down to the McCaskeys, specifically George and his ineptitude).
It has become a commonplace to speak of the Bears, their owners, and their coaching staff as inept. Then come the calls for personnel to be fired and the head coach replaced by some other team’s hotshot offensive or defensive coordinator. It’s like baseball prognosticators: to them, the best players on an MLB team’s roster always seem to be the overly hyped, untested, minor league phenoms who’ve yet to accomplish anything other than looking good in their uniforms. Consider that Nagy was himself once a hotshot coordinator whose hiring by the Bears was enthusiastically embraced by their fans. But now those same fans are calling for his head. Why should anyone trust your judgment, Bears fans? And if all that matters is winning the ring, then most teams, their owners, and their personnel are as inept as you claim the Bears are. There is truth in the notion that fans fulminate on talk-radio, clamor for change, money be damned, and demand—yes, demand, that teams do what the fans tell them to do. Of course. They want the power without the responsibility that goes along with owning, constructing, and coaching an NFL team.
George McCaskey (11 seasons): 77-94 (.450), 0-2 playoffs, 3-19 vs. Packers
Ryan Pace (7 seasons): 46-61 (.429), 0-2 playoffs, 2-12 vs. Packers
Matt Nagy (4 seasons): 32-27 (.540), 0-2 playoffs, 1-7 vs. Packers
The only one who has had even a modicum of success is Nagy, and that’s all propped up by one season where his putrid offense was carried by an elite defense. Since then, he’s 20-25 (.444) and his offense has been completely exposed.
Imagine thinking the fans and their expectations are the problem here…
I didn’t even read the article, just wanted to answer the article’s question. No
Should they?
No.
Will they?
Yes, of course.
If they can Nagy and keep Ryan Pace, that franchise is completely insane. Pace trades the world for Trubisky, while passing on several generational talents, and is somehow coated in Teflon. How is that possible??
He’ll be let go at the end of the season and they’ll bring in some new offensive guru to try and fix Fields.
Ironically, that COY award contributed to his downfall because it raised fan expectations to unrealistic levels. It was actually the Fangio defense that contributed most to that 12-4 season success.
The problem is that they have not had a football mind at president since Jim Finks. Ted Phillips is a bean counter that was made President of the team after little Mikey McCaskey destroyed the team. They made Phillips President because Virginia liked him even though he had no clue what football was.
If there was a football minded President, he would have never allowed Pace to draft Kevin White or trade up one spot for Trubisky. He also would not allow Pace to mortgage the future by trading away failure draft choices or keeping us in salary cap hell by giving out voidable year contracts
The Bears should trade two number one picks for Mike Tomlin and fix this situation!