Getty Head coach Matt Nagy of the Chicago Bears celebrates a win
Former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy appears to be a candidate for Andy Reid’s eventual replacement in Kansas City, according to a February 17 tweet by reported by Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
“Losing Eric Bieniemy is a blow for the Chiefs, but the plan all along in this case—as we’ve mentioned—has been for Matt Nagy to step back into the OC job he filled for KC in ’16 and ’17. Nagy’s got a real shot, whenever the time comes, to be Andy Reid’s successor with the Chiefs,” Breer tweeted.
Losing Eric Bieniemy is a blow for the Chiefs, but the plan all along in this case—as we’ve mentioned—has been for Matt Nagy to step back into the OC job he filled for KC in ’16 and ’17. Nagy’s got a real shot, whenever the time comes, to be Andy Reid’s successor with the Chiefs.
The Chiefs are now expected to promote Nagy to offensive coordinator, according to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, following Bieniemy’s departure to the Washington Commanders, where he was hired as the team’s assistant head coach/offensive coordinator.
Nagy has a longstanding relationship with Reid. The two have spent over a decade coaching together in Kansas City and previously in Philadelphia. If, as expected, Nagy takes the job, it will be his second stop in Kansas City, where he was previously a quarterbacks coach and a offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2017. He spent five seasons with the Chiefs before taking the head job in Chicago in 2018.
A Warm Welcome Back to Kansas City?
Following Nagy’s dismissal in Chicago after the 2021 season, Reid was excited to welcome him back to Kansas City. Upon re-hiring Nagy, Reid expressed his feelings to reporters.
“Yeah, I probably should add that in there. It’s great to have Matt [Nagy] back, I thought it was important that continuity that we’ve had between Eric [Bieniemy], the quarterback coach, the offensive staff so I thought that was important. Matt was the logical answer to that if he wanted to do that. I didn’t know where he’d be at after being a head coach, but he was fired up to do it and Eric was fired up, so I was like, ‘Let’s go.’ We’ll roll it in there and we’ll take it from there.”
A Superstar Endorsement
In 2018, when Nagy took the job in Chicago, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke about Nagy’s impact in Kansas City.
“I think he relates to quarterbacks so well. Especially the young guys,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. He’s been through the process. He’s tried to make a career of his own as a quarterback then moved over to coaching. Just having someone that has been through that process and knows how to relate to the young guys and especially the quarterback position will help you really understand the offense and really understand what the defenses are trying to get.”
Mahomes has been one of Nagy’s biggest champions, crediting him with his rapid development and adjustment to the pro game. Ahead of a Week 16 matchup against the then Nagy-led Bears in 2019, Mahomes, who would lead the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win that season, was nothing but complimentary of his former coach.
“Obviously, he was an awesome, awesome coach, and he helped me out a ton, helping explain things to me as I was coming from a totally different offense to this one,” Mahomes told reporters. “He really helped me with just presenting it in different ways that I understood and was able to pick up so I could have success whenever I was in practice or in preseason games or the last game of the regular season. I mean he’s a great human being and a great coach and he really understands how to get the best out of his quarterback.”