Matt Nagy Must Succeed Where John Fox Failed With Ryan Pace

John Fox gets a lot of heat from Chicago Bears fans these days. Much of it is justified. While he did a great job rebuilding the team's culture, his inability to get more discipline out of his players and forge a modern offense were big strikes against him. However, that second part may not have been his fault because he was saddled with two quarterbacks who proved to be disappointments. The biggest one being Mitch Trubisky.

Why is this important? Namely, because GM Ryan Pace was anything but in lockstep with his head coach when Trubisky was drafted back in 2017. While most within the Bears organization were on board with the North Carolina product, the head coach wasn't one of them. As the Chicago Tribune reported months ago, Fox wanted Clemson's Deshaun Watson.

"Fox, who rated Watson as his top quarterback, didn’t learn of Pace’s intention to select a quarterback until the morning of the draft, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. Other prominent figures in the organization received the Trubisky news from Roger Goodell’s mouth as the NFL commissioner announced the pick on live TV from a stage in Philadelphia."

Pace ignoring Fox's assessment coupled with the coach's inability to steer the GM to his line of thinking has haunted the Bears ever since. Now the question becomes this. Can Matt Nagy succeed where his predecessor failed?

Nagy can't be laid back like John Fox was

The thing to remember with Pace is he's a man of conviction. That isn't a bad thing most of the time. If a GM doesn't have that, then he's probably not too good at his job. However, there are times when that sort of thing can work against you. For example, maybe sticking with certain players longer than they deserve. Often the only way to change the minds of men like this is to be blunt and forceful.

If Nagy is 100% sold on Trubisky for 2020, then he doesn't have to say anything. That said, if he has doubts about that idea, and there are plenty of rumors that this is the case, then he can't do what Fox did and trust Pace will make the right decision. Everything leading up to this point since back in 2015 suggests the GM does not have the best eye for quarterbacks.

Nagy has to not only make his stance on Trubisky clear, but also voice his opinion as strongly as possible on whichever name in free agency, the draft, or on the trade market he feels give his offense the best chance to get off the ground. If he doesn't, then he might be doomed to the same fate Fox suffered back in 2017.