A New Coaching Name Is Rocketing Up the Chicago Bears Board

The Detroit Lions put it to rest on Sunday. John Fox had one last slim opportunity to save his job. If he could win the final four games of the season to finish 7-9, that might convince the Bears higher ups to resist sending him packing. Then in predictable fashion he blew it. Coming off a huge win over Cincinnati, Fox returned to his usual, conservative style. With nothing to lose he refused to take chances and as a result the team couldn't get anything going. Now the search for the next Bears head coach will really begin. GM Ryan Pace was in attendance for the game. Onlookers stated that he did not seem happy. No doubt he was watching his prized young quarterback Mitch Trubisky play. Though the rookie reached 300 yards on the day, he had three costly interceptions. Problems continue to persist with his mechanics. That falls at the feet of the coaching staff. Pace is not dumb. He recognizes the task ahead. Above anything else it must be the continued development of this potential franchise quarterback. Trubisky has shown the signs. Now it's a matter for fine tuning it all. The question is who will they get to do it?

Bears head coach search has a new name rising up list in Matt Nagy

Two months ago the name Matt Nagy wasn't widely known around the NFL landscape. Most saw him as the successor to Doug Pederson in Kansas City. The heir apparent to their offensive coordinator job. Not that it mattered of course. Head coach Andy Reid called the plays so nobody took the idea of the 39-year old Nagy being a head coach option seriously. Things have changed. With the Chiefs offense struggling, Reid made the decision to hand play calling duties to Nagy before their game against the New York Jets on December 3rd. In the three previous games to that point they had scored 17, 9 and 10 points respectively. In the three games since Nagy has taken over they've scored 31, 26 and 30. It's also been a huge boost for quarterback Alex Smith. He had three touchdowns and four interceptions in that three-game stretch prior to Nagy's promotion. Since then he has six touchdowns and one interception. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Alex-Smith-Leads-KC-to-Victory-w-2-TDs-vs.-LA-Chargers-vs.-Chiefs-Wk-15-Player-Highlights.mp4"][/video]

Nagy carries a major chip on his shoulder

One thing that becomes clear about Nagy when researching his background is the man was never handed anything. He's had to fight tooth and nail to get this far in his coaching career. He sounds like a man who is confident in himself and determined to show others what he can do.

"I wasn't given the opportunity to play Division I football out of high school, and in my opinion, I felt I could. I wasn't given an opportunity to play in the NFL out of college, and I felt I should have."

That didn't stop him. After finishing his college career at Delaware, he landed in the Arena Football League. There he led two different teams to the ArenaBowl championship game. During that time he also doubled as a high school coach, learning the ropes. This earned him a coaching internship for the Philadelphia Eagles under then head coach Andy Reid. The rest as they say is history. Nagy followed Reid to Kansas City where he became quarterbacks coach in 2013. With his help Alex Smith has had the best run of his career including two trips to the Pro Bowl. Currently the Chiefs rank ninth passing and fifth in scoring. If those hold they will each be the highest of the Reid era, with Nagy getting much of the credit. If the Bears are looking for a young, hungry coach trained by one of the best in the business then they won't do much better than him.