WILLING TO BEAR BRUNT OF BLAME
After being named head coach in Chicago, Nagy takes fall for role in Chiefs’ playoff exit
An hour before the Oakland Raiders rolled out Jon Gruden to make that hiring finally official, the Chicago Bears introduced Matt Nagy on Tuesday as that founding NFL franchise’s 16th head coach.
The 39-year-old looked more than a little nervous, and daunted, by the big moment.
“It’s a dream and I’m still pinching myself. Everything happens really fast,” said Nagy, who until both sides came to agreement Monday, had been Andy Reid’s offensive co-ordinator on the Kansas City Chiefs.
In his introductory remarks, Nagy proceeded to thank more people than the longest-winded Oscar winner.
Perhaps the most newsworthy thing that came out of his conference had nothing to do with the Bears.
Nagy said he was the one who called all the offensive plays for the Chiefs after halftime of Saturday’s ruinous 22-21 home-field wild-card playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans, in which the Chiefs blew a 21-3 halftime lead and, inexplicably, handed the ball off to the league’s leading rusher, rookie Kareem Hunt, only five times after the first quarter.
“I called every single play in the second half,” Nagy said, which hadn’t been revealed, as Reid deliberately covered for Nagy after the game, saying he called all the plays that didn’t work, and Nagy all the others.
“That’s a learning situation for me,” Nagy said. “I’ve gone back and I’ve looked at it. There are some scenarios where I wish I would have made some different choices with the play call. But for me, that was a failure for me, in my book. For me.
“But I’ll grow from it and I’ll learn from it, I promise you that ... I felt terrible for my team, for our organization … I called every play in that second half. I stand by that. And I promise you I’ll learn from it.”
Nagy took over sole play-calling responsibility from Reid only in the last half of this season. Yet Nagy said without hesitation Tuesday he will call plays for the Bears’ offence, spearheaded by quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who is coming off a decent but not great rookie year.
Bears GM Ryan Pace lauded Nagy — following two rounds of interviews with him on Sunday — as “a proven leader. He’s a winner, he’s intelligent, he’s innovative, he has strong character, he’s got a great family, and he shares the same passion for the game that I have.
“Coach Reid believes in Matt Nagy and so do I.”
Philadelphia offensive tackle Lane Johnson ended his two-week media boycott Tuesday. He lambasted those who have so heavily criticized his Eagles, the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed. Many have dismissed their chances of even defeating the visiting Atlanta Falcons this week, let alone their prospects to make further playoff noise, because backup QB Nick Foles struggled so much over the final three weeks of December after starter Carson Wentz went down with a torn ACL.
“We were 12-2 (when Johnson began his media boycott) and we were treated like we were the (winless Cleveland) Browns,” Johnson said.
Well, not quite. But he has a point. The Eagles are loaded at all positions on both sides of the ball.
In the past seven months the Carolina Panthers have fired a general manager (Dave Gettleman), seen their once-respected principal owner (Jerry Richardson) put the team up for sale in disgrace over charges of chronic and long-standing workplace sexual harassment, traded their top wide receiver (Kelvin Benjamin) and, on Tuesday, fired their offensive co-ordinator of seven years (Mike Shula). Quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey also lost his job Tuesday.
At least head coach Ron Rivera is returning, after signing a contract extension, as is star offensive performer Cam Newton.
With defensive co-ordinator Steve Wilks lining up head-coach job interviews left and right, it will be a new-look Panthers franchise in 2018.
Tom Brady told a Boston radio station Tuesday he greatly disputes at least the part of last week’s blockbuster ESPN report that claimed the New England QB felt “liberated” when backup Jimmy Garoppolo was traded at the end of October to San Francisco.
“I think that is such a poor characterization,” Brady said.
“In 18 years I have never celebrated when someone has been traded, been cut. … It is so far from what my beliefs are about my teammates.”
Both Pats owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick also have denied principal allegations and some root facts in the story, which claims strife between Kraft, Brady and Belichick might be tearing apart the Patriots dynasty.
At his joint season-ending news conference with head coach Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane said Richie Incognito’s comments to Jacksonville’s Yannick Ngakoue — which Ngakoue alleges were “weak racist slurs” — “may have been misunderstood.” Beane would not elaborate. The NFL is investigating. Incognito still has not commented … Baltimore promoted defensive assistant Don Martindale to defensive co-ordinator … Green Bay executive Eliot Wolf interviewed Tuesday with the Cleveland Browns and has an offer at “a high-ranking position” to join the Raiders, per ESPN.