INDIANAPOLIS — Bears coach Matt Nagy was in a one-man wrestling match the last two months in his quest to find the perfect blend of conviction and reinvention. He can’t stay the same after how bad his offense was last season, but he can’t completely rewire himself.
He emerged from his internal conflict believing he is more poised than ever to maximize his roster, which will undergo tweaks through free agency and the draft before the Bears begin offseason practices in May. As he continues writing a rough draft of his playbook, Nagy is eager to use what he’s learned from self-study.
“I’m just so fired up and excited,” he said. “I feel rejuvenated. And I’m refreshed in a lot of different ways.”
An infusion of ideas from unlikely sources gave him a boost.
Nagy fired offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride immediately after the season. He replaced them with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, offensive line coach Juan Castillo, tight ends coach Clancy Barone and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. He also promoted quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone to passing game coordinator.
Lazor was fired by the Dolphins in 2015 and Bengals a year ago, then spent last season out of the NFL. Castillo and Barone also didn’t coach last season. The Jaguars fired DeFilippo — a candidate for the Bears’ head job before they hired Nagy in January 2018 — last month after one season as offensive coordinator.
So what has that crew of castoffs brought to the Bears?
“Having new ideas from new offensive coaches... I’ve gotta tell you, I’m absolutely loving it right now,” Nagy said.
There was little to love last season. The painfully boring Bears finished 29th in scoring and yardage. They averaged a league-worst 6.2 yards per pass attempt and a measly 3.7 yards per rush.
The running game nags Nagy, who seemed allergic to it the last two seasons. Any time he is asked about evolving as a coach, he knows it’s really about running the ball.
“As we go through this offseason, we need to figure out offensively what is our identity,” Nagy said. “I think more specifically, too, in the run game, we struggled there.
“Sometimes it takes five or six weeks [into a season]... but there’s a sense of urgency for us going into this year. It needs to happen sooner.
Nagy will stay in his role as play caller, and Lazor will be his deputy. While the Bears don’t technically have a running game coordinator, that responsibility will go mainly to Castillo.
Those assistants will work within the framework of Nagy’s philosophy, but a continuation of Nagy calling plays doesn’t necessarily mean a continuation of everything the Bears ran last season.
There will also be a new support system for Trubisky with DeFilippo’s arrival and the likely exit of backups/tutors Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray. But it shouldn’t be a jarring change for him with Nagy and Ragone around.
“Matt is still the guy orchestrating the offense,” general manager Ryan Pace said. “We’ve added some new coaches there, but as far as the blueprint of the offense, that’s still going through Coach Nagy.”
Pace initially dodged a question asking for his opinion on the job Nagy did last season, but admitted when pressed that the coaching needs to improve. After observing the revamped offensive staff for several weeks, he sees it headed the right way.
Nagy mentioned how different his mentor Andy Reid’s offense looked with the Chiefs last season compared to what it was two years earlier and during their time together in Philadelphia as an example of a coach who adapted without abandoning his principles.
“I learned a lot last year in so many different ways, on and off the field, as a head coach,” Nagy said. “I learned a lot as a play caller — with players, with scheme, with coaches.”
