Move over, Cordarrelle Patterson, Matt Nagy is coming for your job as the Chicago Bears’ lead recruiter.
New wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. explained how Nagy’s persistence throughout the offseason ultimately led to his free agent deal with the Bears.
Check it out, via the Halas Hall Brawl Podcast:
https://twitter.com/HalasHallBrawl/status/1257732359350296579?s=20
“Nagy called me probably every day at one point in time. We talked about thousands of different things,” Ginn said. “He made a dude feel comfortable enough to come on up here and really want to play for him. Wore me down in that sense, too”
“Be obsessed” was the first Nagy buzzphrase that caught on upon his arrival in 2018. And say what you will about the Bears head coach as he enters Year 3 of his tenure in Chicago, the guy talks a good game, has a unique way about connecting with players, and is widely viewed as a “players coach” for his ability to reach across those lines. And let’s not overlook this. Just because we can’t put a number on it doesn’t mean it isn’t important. And if you can talk a potential deep threat to join a team with a pending quarterback competition, you’re doing something right as an influencer.
Remember, it was Nagy’s obsessive energy that helped galvanize a team that had lost 10+ games in each of the previous coaching regime’s three years. The obsessive mindset was swept through the locker room and was adopted by all as the 2018 Bears went on a path that led to a 12-win season and NFC North championship. Adding Khalil Mack helped a lot, to be sure. But there is something about having a coach who can connect with you as a player that has a healthy chunk of value.
And as it turns out, it was Nagy channeling that obsessive nature that helped lure one of the Bears’ latest free agent acquisitions — one who could be an impact player if one of the quarterbacks an reach back and unleash an accurate deep ball a few times per game.