Last week the Kansas City Chiefs made headlines when they announced they were bringing back Matt Nagy as their quarterbacks coach. A move literally everyone saw coming. Nagy was a huge admirer of Andy Reid, and it always felt during his time with the Chicago Bears that he was trying to emulate the longtime head coach. Perhaps a little too much. So when the curtain finally closed on his time here, the expectation was he’d retreat home under the Chiefs umbrella.
As it turns out, there might’ve been a bit more reasoning behind the decision, at least from Kansas City’s point of view. It wasn’t just about adding a credible assistant coach to the staff. One they know and trust. This might’ve been more about the bigger picture. According to Albert Breer of the MMQB, there was some long-term thinking in the decision as well. Enough to make Bears fans think that organization has lots its collective minds.
The thinking is they may now have Reid’s eventual successor in place.
“I’ve said this before—Matt Nagy could wind up being Andy Reid’s successor in Kansas City. Part of the timing of Nagy’s return to the Chiefs this week had to do with the team hammering out offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s situation. Bringing Bieniemy back on a one-year deal makes sense, but losing pass-game coordinator Mike Kafka to the Giants is a blow.
When I’ve made my coaching-carousel calls over the past few years, the “what’s next” question has been raised for Kansas City—Reid is in his 60s, and Nagy’s name has consistently come up as an answer over the past six months after it became clear his time in Chicago would be short.
He’s close with GM Brett Veach, his ex-college teammate who would presumably be integral to the search whenever Reid decides to walk away. Nagy also has the trust of Patrick Mahomes, who he helped develop through Mahomes’ redshirt year of 2017.”
That is nothing short of astounding. After watching what happened in Chicago with the gross mismanagement of the roster, the Chiefs have still talked themselves into the idea that Matt Nagy can be the perfect heir to Reid’s thrown. After all, they have Mahomes and a much-better structured organization in their minds. Nagy can step right in once Reid decides to hang up the headset (he turns 64 in March).
Such optimism is a bit unnerving, in all honesty. As great as Mahomes is, Reid’s galaxy brain guiding him is a huge part of his greatness. Even today, not enough people recognize how great of a head coach the man is. A surefire Hall of Famer. Nagy is a good motivator and has leadership qualities, but Chicago exposed several flaws. Flaws that could threaten to dull the luster of even Mahomes if and when this “plan” comes to fruition.
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