New Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy capably stepped into Doug Pederson’s shoes as the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator when Pederson left to take charge of the Philadelphia Eagles. That move went pretty well for both the Chiefs and the Eagles, who won their first-ever championship under Pederson.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is a big believer in Nagy’s ability and thinks he can also have a similar impact in Chicago the way Pederson did in Philly.
“I think Matt's a hell of a coach,” Travis Kelce told ChicagoBears.com. “I think he could be Doug Pederson 2.0, to be honest, especially with the quarterback.”
Nagy did a terrific job in helping transform the Chiefs’ offense into one of the very best in the league last season. Quarterback Alex Smith had a career year under Nagy led the league in passer rating, while rookie running back Kareem Hunt led the league with 1,327 rushing yards. Kelce also flourished as he set a new career-high with eight touchdown catches.
Just as Pederson unleashed the potential of former No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz, Nagy will need to coax significant improvement out of last season’s No. 2 pick in quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Trubisky made 12 starts during his rookie year, completing 59.4 percent of his passes for 2,193 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Nagy and the Bears still have a significantly long way to go before they can ever dream of matching Pederson's achievement of winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles. But they can at least take one big step toward that main goal by producing enough development out of Trubisky in Nagy’s debut season in Chicago.
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