Matt Nagy Hired as Bears HC to Replace John Fox

The Chicago Bears have found their new coach.

The Bears announced Monday they named Matt Nagy as their head coach following the firing of John Fox. Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times first reported the hire.

Nagy, 39, started his NFL coaching career with the Philadelphia Eagles (2008-12). He followed Andy Reid to Kansas City, where he was the quarterbacks coach from 2013 to 2016 before he became the offensive coordinator in 2017.

Kansas City thrived offensively in 2017, finishing fifth in yards per game (375.4) and sixth in points per contest (25.9). And Alex Smith reinvented his career with the Chiefs—he had thrown for over 3,000 yards just once in his first seven seasons before doing so in five straight years in Kansas City.

Smith threw for career highs in yards (4,042) and touchdowns (26) in 2017, completed 67.5 percent of his passes and tossed just five interceptions. His quarterback rating of 104.7 was also a career high and led the league.

Nagy's offense sputtered in an AFC Wild Card Game against the Tennessee Titans, however. The Chiefs were shut out in the second half as the Titans came back from an 18-point deficit to stun Kansas City 22-21.

Despite the disappointing finish to the year, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk noted Dec. 26 that Reid's decision to give Nagy play-calling duties was one of the keys to the season.

"In the four games before Reid gave up play-calling, the Chiefs were 1-3 and had averaged 16 points a game and 300 yards a game," Michael David Smith wrote. "In the four games since Reid gave up play-calling, the Chiefs are 3-1 and have averaged 29 points a game and 421 yards a game."

Alex Smith and running back Kareem Hunt were revitalized by the change.

In the four games before the play-calling switch, Smith had a passer rating of 78.7, but it jumped to 105.3 in the next four contests, as Michael David Smith noted. Additionally, Hunt had 60 carries for 173 yards, 11 catches for 59 yards and zero touchdowns in the four games before the change but 87 carries for 402 yards, 17 catches for 111 yards and four touchdowns in the four games that followed.

Suffice to say, putting Nagy at the helm reinvigorated an offense that had been slumping. That—along with Nagy's work with Smith over the past five seasons—put him on the radar of a number of teams.

Nagy may not have been one of the biggest names on the market, but he should help breathe life into the Bears offense.

Certainly, Nagy made a ton of sense for Chicago, which is surely hoping he'll get the most out of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The signal-caller started 12 games as a rookie in 2017, flashing moments of potential but also throwing just seven touchdown passes against seven interceptions.

One issue will be surrounding Trubisky with more talent. Kendall Wright was the team's only wide receiver to reach even the 400-yard mark in 2017, though because of injuries, Kevin White played just one game and Cameron Meredith missed the season. Still, Wright didn't exactly light up opposing secondaries with 59 receptions for 614 yards and one touchdown.

The Bears do have a formidable rushing attack thanks to Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, but the offense will need to make strides as a unit if Chicago is to reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2010 season. The Bears hired an offense-minded coach in Nagy to help them do just that.