2018 was the first time in Matt Nagy’s NFL coaching journey that he ventured away from Andy Reid’s coaching staff since coming on as an intern in 2008 to become a head coach himself with Chicago. After four seasons with the Bears, Nagy is back with Reid in Kansas City as the Chiefs’ Senior Assistant and Quarterback Coach.
Nagy has faced plenty of trial and error over his football career, which began as a QB in the Arena Football League before eventually working for Andy Reid in Philly as a coaching assistant in 2010. There, he worked up the latter and followed Reid to K.C., where he earned the offensive coordinator job in 2017. One year later, Nagy was named the NFL Coach of the Year following his first season as head coach of the Bears. From 2019 to 2021, Nagy faced adversity as the Bears struggled to reach the level they had when he first entered the building.
But Nagy says he wants to use the tough times he experienced in Chicago to help him improve now that he is back in his old stomping grounds in Kansas City, where he already had plenty of success just a few years ago.
“I think in life, a lot of my failures that I’ve had, I’ve tried to use those to the best of my ability to make me better,” said Nagy. “You want to use those experiences to make you better in the long run. I feel like I’m still young in this profession, and I want to use my experiences in Chicago to help me be better for our team here in Kansas City. There’s a little bit of humility that you need to do this, but I really cherish it because I’m doing it with good people.”
Before the Chiefs promoted him to Co-Offensive Coordinator in 2016, which led to fully taking the role the following season, Nagy was the Chiefs’ QB Coach for three seasons. During that time, he helped Alex Smith achieve career highs in completions, passing yards, and touchdowns in 2013. In fact, the 2013 Chiefs had the best one-year turnaround in franchise history, finishing 11-5 and making the playoffs after finishing 2-14 the season before.
The years that followed were only a continuation of the winning culture that Kansas City enjoys today, and Nagy was a big part of that helped establish that culture.
“It’s good to have him back,” said head coach Andy Reid. “He’s a good person, and I think he’s good for that quarterback room. I like the relationship that he has with [Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy] and the other coaches. I think that’s important, and that was one of the reasons we brought him back.”
Bieneimy is thrilled to have Nagy back in the team facility as well.
“Nags is my guy,” Bieniemy said. “We stayed in contact the whole time he was in Chicago, so it’s been great having him back. There are a lot of things that he brings to the table because of that experience [as a head coach]; He [brings] new ideas on how to view things, how to scheme and how to attack. On top of that, he’s just a hell of a coach. We just enjoy having him around,” Bieniemy explained.
Nagy returns to the Chiefs with a wealth of knowledge from his four seasons in Chicago, where he won 34 total games and coached the Bears to the playoffs twice. But his last campaign, where his team finished 6-11 in 2021, also provided a few lessons.
“You have the highs and the lows, and you wear so many different hats. I learned a lot,” Nagy said. “Those were real-life experiences in real-life situations – offense, defense, and special teams. [I] dealt with players, dealt with the media, and [spoke] after wins and losses. It really allowed me to grow, and it puts things in perspective.”
Nagy’s time in Chicago gave him an outlook that you can’t get as an assistant coach because you don’t have the opportunity to fully call the shots, from running your own system to hiring your own staff to evaluating talent and building a roster.
“He had to handle everybody and everything [in Chicago], but he’s calm through those situations,” Reid said. “I’m sure that’s [an area where he’ll] benefit us.”
Nagy’s return to Kansas City also means reuniting with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was just a young rookie when Nagy was last associated with the Chiefs in 2017. Mahomes started just one game that year before fully taking over as the team’s starter the following year.
“I had him as a rookie, and I was able to see him and Alex grow together,” Nagy recalled. “[It was a] partnership, and to see him grow from his rookie year from the first game to the playoff loss against Tennessee, I saw that relationship build, and that stuck with Patrick. That stuck with me,” Nagy said. “Now, to come back five years later and to see how much Patrick has grown, it’s amazing. It gives me chills to talk about it because I also know that his ceiling is even higher, which is exciting for all of us.”
When Nagy became a free agent, the familiarity and continuity he previously established in Kansas City made too much sense for Reid to rehire him onto the coaching staff. Nagy is happy to be back as well.
“[I’m] back in the weeds. Instead of 250 people that I’m responsible for, I’m responsible for four,” Nagy said. “I’m embracing that, and it’s been fun.”
