During Matt Nagy’s press conference introducing him last January as Bears head coach, it was noted that Nagy, while never holding a head-coaching post, worked in close harmony with Andy Reid, a certified quarterback whisperer – Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick in Philadelphia, Alex Smith in Kansas City. This reporter queried Nagy on what single thread ran through Reid’s successes with quarterbacks, who under Reid typically achieved the best results of their careers. What common Reid denominator was there and that Nagy had learned?
Nagy’s response was immediate.
“They all had a coach that believed in them,” Nagy said at that time. “Those guys that you just named [had that].
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“That’s why there’s a common theme with coach Reid. He has a method to his madness of just showing those guys that he believes in them. And then what happens is, they understand that he believes in him and they work on their weaknesses and they try to get better, they ask questions, they all have different ways of learning.”
Fast forward to training camp, with Nagy installing a new offense through Mitchell Trubisky. The second-year quarterback threw interceptions, made mistakes, had his steps and missteps. But none of those steps were away from Nagy, nor Nagy from Trubisky.
Fast a little further forward, to now, with the Bears in the playoffs with 10 wins behind Trubisky, who made it abundantly clear that Nagy has lived the quarterback-coaching philosophy of Andy Reid. And it has mattered.
“The main thing for me is that he believes in me, and that means a lot to me,” said Trubisky. “Whatever he says, I’m going to take it to heart and he can never be too hard on me because I know he wants the best for me and this team.”
NFL
Within their relationship, Trubisky cited the openness as pivotal, “just to be honest with each other, him being able to be hard on me, being able to take that criticism and wanting to get better from it all the time – it’s been a really good relationship that continues to grow and grow, and the more we communicate and talk about it, the better we get. I’ve just got to keep learning, growing and keep going, and he’s going to help me every step of the way.”