Matt Nagy Assistants Said To Be Already Lining Up Jobs Elsewhere

Here’s the thing. If the media and fans have a sense that something is nearing its end with their team? One can safely bet the people inside the building know it even more. All signs point to Matt Nagy likely losing his job by the end of the 2021 season. A massive thud to a tenure that began with such glittering promising back in 2018. It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying. Nagy overturned his entire coaching staff over the course of his time there.

So it must seem quite ironic that the assistants he brought in are already getting head starts on their next jobs elsewhere. According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, several members of the staff are hunting for new positions elsewhere. Donovan Raiola already jumped ship to become Nebraska’s offensive line coach. Tom Herman is receiving interest from multiple college programs to become their new offensive coordinator.

The rats appear ready to abandon ship.

“Many of the assistants on Bears coach Matt Nagy’s staff have already been looking for potential jobs on the college markets, and most of them are operating as if they will be seeking employment elsewhere next season, league and team sources said. The Bears are 4-9, on the verge of playoff elimination and falling short of ownership’s expectations for this season, with ownership mulling changes to the organization’s hierarchy and possible restructurings at the highest level of management.”

Considering how unwilling Nagy has been in trusting his staff, at least on the offensive side over the past couple of years? This shouldn’t be a huge shock. Only one member remains from his original 2018 group. That is wide receivers coach Mike Furrey. Everybody else was replaced or left for other jobs already. Such things aren’t supposed to happen when a head coach is capable of building a proper staff.

It always felt like Nagy didn’t quite have what it takes to identify coaching talent. Both of his offensive coordinators, Marc Helfrich and Bill Lazor, were unemployed when he brought them in. Almost everybody else were retreads from other teams that nobody wanted. When a head coach is making hires like that, seasons like this one tend to follow.

Matt Nagy may never get this opportunity again

That is unfortunate because for a time it felt like he had the makings of a truly good head coach. He understood how to motivate players, how to keep defenses off-balance, and how to adjust to the talent he had. Then somewhere around the start of 2019, he seemed to lose his edge. The creativity started to disappear. He became more and more rigid in his desire to run his particular style of offense. On top of that, he also seemed to become timid. Less open to taking risks.

That combined with his inability to manage games eventually caught up to him. Now the team is in shambles and most of the blame falls on his shoulders. Not a surprise when his offense is one of the worst in the NFL and promising rookie QB Justin Fields is struggling. There just isn’t anything to hang his hat on this year. When that happens after two disappointing finishes in 2019 and 2020?

His fate was sealed.

Now he’ll have to wonder where it all went wrong and what his future holds. This might’ve been his one and only opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL. To think it ended this way must be incredibly disappointing. Especially considering how things started. A 12-4 record and Coach of the Year. Talk about a rapid fall from grace. He won’t go down as the worst head coach in Bears history, but arguably the most disappointing.