The Chicago Bears have named Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as their head coach, the club announced Monday.
Nagy, 39, spent the past five seasons under Andy Reid's wing, first as quarterbacks coach, then as co-offensive coordinator and finally as offensive coordinator. The 2017 campaign was Nagy's first calling plays, a season in which Kareem Hunt led the NFL in rushing, Alex Smith led the NFL in passing efficiency and set a career high with 26 touchdowns and the team committed the fewest turnovers in the league en route to an AFC West championship.
Nagy has spent his entire coaching career working under Reid, first as a training camp coaching intern with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008 and '09, a coaches' assistant in 2010 and then as a quality control assistant in 2011-12.
Nagy's hire means nearly a fifth of all current NFL head coaches were former Reid assistants, joining Carolina's Ron Rivera, Baltimore's John Harbaugh, the Jets' Todd Bowles, Philadelphia's Doug Pederson and Buffalo's Sean McDermott. Three of the previous five were in the Playoffs this season, plus Reid himself in Kansas City.
Interestingly, the Nagy hire means two of the past three Bears head coaches own significant experience in a professional football league that is not the NFL. Former head coach Marc Trestman came to Chicago from the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes, while Nagy played seven seasons in the Arena Football League.
Chicago is the second NFL club to fill its coaching vacancy this winter, following the Raiders' hiring of Jon Gruden.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.