There are plenty of instances of coaches complaining about officials for perceived slights, including coaches being fined for those complaints.
Bears coach Matt Nagy took a different tack this week, apologizing to officials after he yelled at them for one they got right.
Via Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune, Nagy said his emotions got the better of him when he screamed about not being able to pull off a quick-change in the second quarter. The Bears were trying to get the punt team off the field and the offense back on, and it might have worked if tackle Bobby Massie hadn’t knocked over line judge Carl Johnson, leading to an official timeout.
Nagy lost it for a second, going on the field to argue, before regaining his composure at halftime.
“It would have been nice [for Massie] to avoid him so that didn’t happen,” Nagy said. “At that point in time, that’s such a crucial part of the game, my emotions [took over]. … I talked to those guys. I apologized to them. I told them that they did the right thing and we need to coach that play better so that our guys don’t do that.”
Whoa, that’s almost like graciousness. And personal accountability. This is going to take a moment to get used to.
