Matt Nagy saw some success as the Bears’ head coach from 2018-2021.
Chicago won a division title and went to the postseason as a wild card team in two seasons. But the Bears flamed out with a 6-11 finish in 2021, with Nagy and G.M. Ryan Pace getting fired in January.
Nagy found a soft landing with his former employer, going back to the Chiefs as a senior offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach. But he’ll be back at Soldier Field for the first time this weekend, as Kansas City takes on Chicago in the preseason opener.
“No. 1, what I have to do: It’s my professional job to make sure I step back and make sure it’s about we and not me,” Nagy said of the return, via Pete Sweeney of ArrowheadPride.com. “I mean that when I say that. But that’s hard sometimes. And so when you get there, I’m so used to being on the home side, right? On the home sideline in the home locker room coming out, it’s different.
“I don’t know how I’ll feel when I get out there. But I’m here for this team and these guys. I built great relationships with everyone there — but it’s the preseason, too, so we’re going to go out there and have some fun.”
Nagy also noted he’s had plenty of time to self-reflect and think about what he could have done better as a head coach.
“I built a ton of great relationships with a lot of great people, starting with Mrs. McCaskey, with George McCaskey, Ted Phillips, Ryan Pace, and so many great players and coaches,” Nagy said. ‘Those will last forever. Those aren’t going to leave. Four years is gone, but it didn’t end how we wanted it to. And there was disappointment, there was discouragement — but in all that said, I know I’m not defeated. I know those other players, coaches, and people aren’t defeated. And so, we just got to be better from it.”
Nagy was the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach from 2013-2015 and their offensive coordinator from 2016-2017 before the Bears hired him. He compiled a 34-31 record as Chicago’s head coach with a 0-2 postseason record.
