LANCASTER, Pa. _ Gail Stouch put the letters in an album and kept them for 23 years.
When her son was a senior high school quarterback in 1995, Manheim Central ended its second straight season in the Pennsylvania AAA state semifinals with a loss to powerhouse Berwick. The game came down to the final drive, and her son, Matt Nagy, threw an interception that sealed his team's loss.
In the days after the disappointment, fans sent him letters to offer support.
The Barons should hold their heads high, they wrote. They should be proud of the entertainment and joy they brought the town. And the quarterback should know good things were in store for his life.
"Some of them were just amazing," Stouch said. "People we didn't even know. ... People who didn't even like football. That's the support he has felt all through."
Nagy long has been a person who can compel a community.
In the two decades since, Nagy has proved his supporters right. He had a successful playing career, even if it never reached the ultimate goal. He transitioned to a fast-rising coaching career that received a boost from a few key characters. And Tuesday at Halas Hall, he greeted his new community.
As the 16th head coach in Bears history, Nagy faces a far greater task in keeping the support of Chicago fans who have gone 32 years without a Super Bowl victory and seven without tasting the playoffs. The Bears are turning to him to head the development of their promising young players, especially quarterback Mitch Trubisky, a task imperative to pulling out of the slump of four straight last-place finishes in the NFC North.
Some who have known the 39-year-old Nagy the longest aren't surprised at the quickness of his ascension to such a position. Others are still in states of elated shock, even if Nagy did announce at a Manheim Touchdown Club banquet last year that he would be an NFL head coach one day. But they think he has the leadership skills to handle it.
"He always had a gift to read individual personalities and communicate with them and connect with them on their level," said Bill Nagy, Matt's father. "There are sheep and there are shepherds, and Matt is definitely a shepherd."
