Once you (justifiably) set aside some of the … less attractive stats from his rookie season, quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s arm, athleticism, talent, and upside are a top selling point for the Chicago Bears’ head coach position this offseason.
However, one coaching candidate could be itching to coach up Trubisky more than the rest of the candidates:
Here is a great piece of intel: Source close to Matt Nagy tells @ESPN1000 that Nagy loved Trubisky in 2017 NFL Draft and the Chiefs loved him. Nagy has stayed close to him during this season. Nagy believes you can win big with Trubisky.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) January 4, 2018
Hello, Matt Nagy.
In case you forgot, Nagy first popped up on the Bears’ (or, at least, our) radar during the regular season, just after the Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid, handed over play calling responsibility to him for Week 13.
Here’s some of what we had to say at the time:
Nagy’s emergence on the list is notable, especially considering the timing of his promotion as a play caller. It’s worth noting that Reid made similar moves with Brad Childress and Doug Pederson before they received their own head coaching gigs. If Sunday was something of a résumé-builder/first-impression maker for Nagy, then color me impressed …
… This is Nagy’s second season as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator, but he previously worked as the team’s quarterbacks coach from 2013 to 2015 when Pederson was calling plays before leaving for Philadelphia. He also served under Reid as a coaching intern (2008-09), coaches’ assistant (2010), and offensive quality control coach (2011-12). So while Nagy is young, he will have 10 years of NFL experience at age 39 if/when he starts taking interviews in the offseason.
Earlier this week, of course, we learned that the Bears had formally requested an interview with Nagy from the Kansas City Chiefs, signaling their legitimate interest in the formerly fringy head coach candidate. The interview is expected to be some time next week after the Chiefs’ playoff game against the Titans this Saturday.
And, now, from the tweet above, we know that a source close to Nagy said the team and Nagy both “loved” Trubisky before the most recent NFL draft. Interesting.
If you’ll recall, the Chiefs (like the Bears before them) moved up in the draft to pick a young quarterback. But with Trubisky off the board, Kansas City chose Texas Tech product Patrick Mahomes. Moreover, the Chiefs were believed to be one of the teams who had their eyes on Trubisky before the Bears made a trade.
2. The Browns, Chiefs, Texans and Cardinals all had interest in moving up. Told that Browns and Chiefs coveted Mitch Trubisky.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) April 28, 2017
Well, then. We have Kaplan citing a source with knowledge of Nagy’s “love” for the Bears’ quarterback and some recent history that links the Chiefs and Trubisky in the pre-draft process. And for what it’s worth, the Chiefs were one of the teams who scheduled a private workout with Trubisky prior to the draft.
Michael Cerami contributed to this post.