INDIANAPOLIS — The Bears couldn’t get rid of former coach Matt Nagy fast enough, firing him less than 24 hours after their season finale in January.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, thought bringing him back was the perfect way to complete their coaching staff. When coach Andy Reid decided to offer him a job as quarterbacks coach and senior assistant, his only hesitation was whether Nagy would be enthusiastic about such a lateral move.
“Matt was the logical answer, if he wanted to do that,” Reid said of replacing former assistant Mike Kafka, now the Giants’ offensive coordinator. “I didn’t know where he’d be (mentally) after being a head coach. But he was fired up to do it.”
Nagy worked under Reid with the Eagles and Chiefs from 2008 through ’17 before the Bears hired him. He was the offensive coordinator in Kansas City his final two seasons, with Eric Bieniemy working under him as running backs coach. Bieniemy took over as offensive coordinator in 2018 and is now Nagy’s boss.
It’s an ideal spot for Nagy to rehab his reputation as an offensive coach after the Bears went 34-31, ranked 24th in scoring and had the seventh-worst team passer rating in the NFL under his watch.
If the Chiefs are successful during his stint there — and why wouldn’t they be, given that they’ve been top-six in scoring every season with Patrick Mahomes? — Nagy could reemerge as a coordinator or head-coaching candidate.
