CHICAGO _ A day after the Bears defeated the Packers last December, clinching the NFC North championship in exhilarating fashion, a lifelong fan in North Carolina reached out to Halas Hall with a request to speak with Matt Nagy. Chicago native Mike Krzyzewski wanted first to offer his congratulations on Nagy's achievement, with the first-year coach reviving a franchise that had finished in last place for four consecutive seasons.
But as the host of "Basketball and Beyond," a wide-ranging talk show on Sirius XM Radio, Krzyzewski also wanted Nagy on the air to talk shop, to exchange leadership ideas, to sift through some of the secrets to the Bears coach's early success.
When Nagy learned of the request, he quickly adjusted his schedule. "I mean, this is Coach K," he said.
Thus for 20 minutes on that Monday morning a year ago, the two coaches _ one a Hall of Fame college basketball legend with more than 1,100 career victories and the other a then-40-year-old NFL novice with just 14 games under his belt _ chatted openly.
Krzyzewski, with all the giddiness of his Bears fandom showing, gushed about Tarik Cohen's passion, the defense's steadiness and, most of all, Nagy's ability to create "a culture of belief."
An instant connection was made. A relationship began. And at the end of that brief phone chat, Krzyzewski extended an open invitation for Nagy to stop in at Cameron Indoor Stadium for a Duke game. Whenever he wanted.
A few weeks later, the Bears coach showed his think-big chutzpah with a grand request. Rather than settle for, say, a couple of seats to a Saturday matinee against St. John's, Nagy swung for the fences. He was hoping to bring his family of six to Durham, N.C. They wanted to see Krzyzewski's Blue Devils battle rival North Carolina.
Why not?
