Chicago Bears: 5 options to replace Matt Nagy

Who could replace Matt Nagy as Chicago Bears head coach if the team moves on after this year?

The Chicago Bears are 5-3 and somehow fans are having legitimate conversations about whether the team should fire the head coach and general manager at the end of the season. It’s wild to think about, but completely on-brand for 2020, a year that has been anything but conventional.

Speaking of which, part of Nagy’s problem might be his unwillingness to be more conventional. Coincidentally, when he was hired, he was brought in to be unconventional — at least as it related to reconstructing the Bears’ offense.

They had just lived through the malaise that comes with watching a John Fox led offense, which followed the unmitigated disaster that was Marc Trestman. But at the time, Nagy felt different. He was a young, energetic coach who learned under the most innovative offensive mind in the game today — Andy Reid.

And for at least the 2018 season, things seemed promising. Even if the numbers didn’t comport with expectations, the game results did. Fans were willing to give a young coach and an inexperienced quarterback a chance to grow together.

Now, nearly 2.5 years into the marriage, Bears fans may be ready to file for divorce.

The offense continues to wallow near the bottom of the league in nearly every important offensive statistical category. While there seem to be opportunities in the passing game, he’s encumbered by an offensive line that can’t hold long enough to take advantage of them. Similarly, their success (or lack thereof) in the run game has been historically bad.

While the scheme arguably works, Nagy’s unwillingness to either give up play-calling duties or adjust to the personnel he has could ultimately be his undoing. The buzzards are circling as the beat writers press harder and harder on a guy who was once the toast of the town. So if things go off the rails, and the Bears change head coaches after this year, who are some candidates?