The fallout from the Bears embarrassing 36-25 loss at home to the Saints continued on Monday. Head coach Matt Nagy faced another press conference of question about his offense. In his post-game press conference Sunday night, Nagy did not rule out giving up the offensive play-calling to another coach on the staff. The one coach that should be giving play-calling duties is Brad Childress based on his experienced resume as a coach.
Childress has been an offensive coach in the league for the last 20 years as a quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator, and head coach. Similar to Nagy, Childress comes from the Andy Reid coaching tree but has proven himself as a play-caller away from Reid. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and the running game have battled issues all season long. Childress has shown experience developing quarterbacks and implementing a strong running game.
He was hired as a quarterbacks coach by Reid in 1999 and oversaw the development of the Eagles second overall pick in quarterback Donovan McNabb. McNabb was named to two Pro-Bowls during the time Childress was the Eagles quarterbacks coach until 2002. From 2001 to 2004, he contributed to an Eagles offense that made it to four consecutive NFC Championships and the Super Bowl in 2004. Childress got the most from his quarterback while lacking a true number one wide receiver until the 2004 season when the team acquired Terrell Owens.
Childress was hired as the Minnesota Vikings head coach in 2006. From 2006 to 2008, the Vikings lacked a quality quarterback as Brad Johnson, Tavaris Jackson, and Gus Frerotte were his quarterbacks during that time. Despite the shortcomings at the quarterback position, the Vikings had a 1,000-yard rusher in each of those three seasons. Although they had future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson in 2007 and 2008, Chester Taylor rushed for 1,215 yards in 2006.
In 2009, the Vikings offense acquired quarterback Brett Favre and made it to the NFC Championship game before losing to the New Orleans Saints. That year the Vikings offense ranked second overall in the league in scoring. The offense scored 30 points or more in 10 games that season.
Following his firing in 2010, Childress has had two more offensive coordinator roles with the Cleveland Browns in 2012 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016. Although the Browns won just five games, running back Trent Richardson scored 12 total touchdowns and gained 1,317 scrimmage yards. As coordinator for the Chiefs in 2016, quarterback Alex Smith and wide receiver Tyreek Hill were both named to the Pro-Bowl while running back Spencer Ware had 1,368 all-purpose yards.
What has stood out about Childress's career is that he has developed efficient offenses no matter where he as gone. Whether be in Minnesota or Kansas City, his players have produced results. Whether Nagy wants him to call plays or not, Childress does need to be more involved in overseeing the offense going forward.
It may be wise for him to work with Trubisky, who is struggling with his mechanics and his ability to read defenses. Chicago may want to have Childress work on developing running plays and how to get rookie running back David Montgomery more involved in the offense. Nagy and the Bears are in a bad spot right now, but it would be foolish for the second-year head coach not to want to utilize one of his coaches who has two decades of experience as a successful play-caller.
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