Chicago Bears: Matt Nagy is here to change the culture

Matt Nagy has helped rejuvenate the excitement of the Chicago Bears fanbase with his passion and modern “feel” for the game. Not only are the fans feeling it, but the players will too, if they aren’t already.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

When Matt Nagy became the 16th head coach in Chicago Bears history, I’m not sure any of us knew what we were getting. Plus, in recent memory the Bears haven’t had the best success in finding the right guy to lead the team.

Marc Trestman and John Fox come to mind. Trestman was so nice that he didn’t like to yell at players and also named Jeremiah Ratliff a game captain a day after shoving an assistant coach to the ground. On the flip side, Fox had the personality of a statue and always looked like he had better things to do than coach.

So, would Matt Nagy be different? That’s the answer to the question we were dying to know. Sure, games have not been played yet, but as of right now, there’s a lot to like about Nagy.

When rookie mini-camp was held May 11th-13th, Nagy was paying very close attention to the 70 players on the field. Nagy said,

"“It hits a spot with me because I felt like I was one of those guys that just want tall enough, wasn’t fast enough, maybe not quite strong enough. I didn’t go to that big school. I went to a 1AA, I refuse to let somebody slip by because of that. It’s not going to happen with me and I’m going to make sure that our staff understands that. So there’s kids in this building that are going to get extra special attention, because they’re not that guy. I can promise you that.”"

Nagy also talked about how it’s not just being given a shot. He also knows that rookies have to earn it on the field. When Nagy was asked about first round pick Roquan Smith, Nagy said,

"“He just went from a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond so for him he’s got to know that. You know all these guys that come in here, you’ve got to come in here and show what you can do. Just because you were the number 8 pick doesn’t mean you just walk into this thing. You’ve got to earn it. So, we made that clear to everybody on this team. And [Smith] is going to do that.“"

When the Chicago Bears drafted Anthony Miller, how many of us were thinking about the Antonio Brown comparisons while he carves up defenses in 2018? When Nagy was asked about Miller at rookie minicamp, Nagy focused on the big picture and not the hype. He said,

"“[Miller] has a desire to be great, and you see that, but he’s got a long ways to go, but you can see within he’s self-motivated, he’s a self-starter and he’s a kid that’s obviously worked to get to the point that he’s at right now, but just as anybody that’s on this team they’re all starting at ground zero and they need to work there way into the offense and understand their roles. But you take a kid like that that’s confident for a reason and you never want to lose it.”"

While Nagy and the rest of the coaches are helping these players learn the way they want things done, Nagy is also not afraid to bring in former players to show these players what it means to be a Chicago Bear. Former Chicago Bears’ center Olin Kreutz made an appearance at rookie minicamp. Nagy said,

"“Olin was here today, just as a guest and just kinda helping out. We’d be crazy to not take any advice that he has and he has a great relationship with Harry. So, being able to have that is invaluable to these guys and any knowledge that they can get from Olin, we’ll take. And so whether it’s just him observing or giving ideas or suggestions-they’re gonna take it.”"

Nagy knows the history of the Chicago Bears as well as how young this current team is. He realizes how much mentoring from former players can help the team. If these players feel as though they’re part of a family, I’d think they’d be more likely to want to leave it all on the the line for one another, which is what Chicago Bears football is meant to be.

When asked about bringing in former players, Nagy said,

"“To me that’s what its all about. It really is. It’s about the family atmosphere and so whether or not I was a part of it it doesn’t matter. I am now and so this is all a ‘we’ thing. It’s not about me, and you could feel the energy and the happiness that they had coming back here. And we wanted to let them know there’s an open door policy. This is us. So, any chance you get to relive your past and the experiences that you had here, we’re crazy if we don’t let our young guys right now, feel that and there’s just so much history and tradition. It’s just so powerful to have that. The real life experiences of them to be able to be out here at practice, at games, at dinners etc. We want that.”"

While Nagy is helping the team by showing them successful players from the past, he’s also doing what it takes to help them in the present. His team is going to be detail-oriented and each player is going to know their job on each and every play.

When asked about guard James Daniels, Nagy talked about how focused he is on the details. While the learning curve for the receivers is going to be “consistent of their splits” and the “details of conversions within their wide receiver routes.”

How many times last year were there pre-snap penalties because the players weren’t focused? Or, in the rare case when the receivers weren’t blocking, they were running the wrong routes? That was just a lack of coaching and it was an indictment on coach Fox.

Now, I’m not saying that things will go perfectly, because they won’t. However, I do know that Nagy is going to fix issues when they arise and he said as much. When Nagy was asked if Mitch Trubisky would have input on who the center would be, Nagy said,

"“No, no. The quarterbacks need to be able to adjust to whoever that is there. I don’t think Mitch would be that way anyway. Now, he may if there’s an issue with the snap, if there’s some issue then he’ll voice that to the center, he’ll voice that to us and we’ll get it fixed. But for the most part, no. He’s not gonna have much say in that.”"

Even though Trubisky is the face of the franchise, this is Nagy’s team. The players will play, and the coaches will coach. Nagy is going to put the best players on the field in the positions he feels gives the team the best chance to win. He’s a leader of men, and I truly believe he’s going to inspire those around him to be better.

Another thing I loved from the press conference was when Nagy doubled down on keeping Cody Whitehair at center. Remember how Fox and Dowell Loggains were constantly shifting Whitehair between guard and center?

Chicago Bears: Matt Nagy is changing the culture

By Dustin Regan-Padilla | May 15, 2018

Matt Nagy has helped rejuvenate the excitement of the Chicago Bears fanbase with his passion and modern “feel” for the game. Not only are the fans feeling it, but the players will too, if they aren’t already.