Black Monday in the NFL arrived and quickly saw a number of teams open up head coaching and general manager vacancies. Among them were the Chicago Bears, a team that had been expected to fire coach Matt Nagy for months, as fans chanted “Fire Nagy” at Bears games, Bulls games, and even his poor son’s high school games for much of the season.
On Monday, the team announced Nagy and general manager Ryan Pacer were both “relieved of their duties,” which is the cordial way of saying fired, and the search to replace them was announced on Monday afternoon.
The Bears have relieved general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy of their duties.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 10, 2022
McCaskey says #Bears‘ search for GM and HC will be “thorough, diligent and exhaustive.” Search team will consist of McCaskey, Ted Phillips, Hall of Fame exec Bill Polian, Bears VP of player engagement Soup Campbell and senior VP of diversity, equity and inclusion Tanesha Wade.
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) January 10, 2022
Nagy went 34-31 in his four-year tenure in Chicago, but after a 12-4 season in his first year at the helm, the Bears progressively got worse, culminating in this season’s frustrating 6-11 record. The defense was always there in Chicago, but Nagy’s pedigree as an offensive coach never yielded the intended results and after Mitchell Trubisky failed to develop into the face of the franchise under Nagy, their struggles this year with Andy Dalton and Justin Fields seemed to put the nail in the coffin. The offense’s struggles went beyond the quarterback, as the roster simply didn’t have enough offensive talent, both up front on the line of scrimmage and at the skill positions, which is why Pace is likewise out.
The next GM will be in charge of finding a better roster balance between offense and defense, surrounding Fields with the talent needed to succeed, while the new head coach will be tasked with tapping his full potential.