He usually pointed the blame at himself, including after the Bears rushed a franchise-low seven times in a loss to the Saints on Oct. 20.
"I know we need to run the ball more," Nagy said two days later. "I'm not an idiot."
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This trouble was Nagy's search for solutions never led to substantial change, with the Bears averaging 3.69 yards per carry in 2019. That average ranked 30th in the NFL, ahead of only the Dolphins and Jets. The Bears rushed for 100 or more yards only five times in 16 games. While Nagy would often speak of his fault in those failures, he had others take the blame at season's end.
Nagy began the offseason by dismissing offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and two other assistants Tuesday, with the common thread between Helfrich and Hiestand being the running game.
A day after the Bears fired Hiestand, news broke Wednesday that they'll hire Juan Castillo as their new offensive line coach. The timing of Castillo's addition made it clear Nagy had his replacement in mind all along, and Castillo will be tasked with improving the Bears' running game.
Castillo -- who coached with Nagy in Philadelphia -- served as the Bills' offensive line coach and run game coordinator in 2017 and 2018. Buffalo was sixth and ninth in rushing, respectively, over Castillo's two seasons overseeing its ground game.
While Nagy never directly attributed the Bears' struggling running game to Hiestand or Helfrich, his quick work firing those two coaches and hiring Castillo was proof of that blame.
The subject of that ineffective ground game was rookie running back David Montgomery, for whom the Bears moved up to select in the third round after trading Jordan Howard to the Eagles. Montgomery rushed for 889 yards and six touchdowns but averaged just 3.7 yards per carry while struggling to find consistency.
"Not good enough," Montgomery said of his own play. "I felt like a lot of opportunities I missed."
Nagy often pointed to other variables in the Bears' offense for Montgomery's lack of production, which was his way of placing blame on Helfrich, Hiestand and the offensive line during the season.
The Bears' dismissal of Helfrich was notable given that he and Nagy shared an agent and were paired without a past coaching history together. Nagy always held the play-calling duties, while Helfrich helped oversee the preparation of the Bears' offensive game plan before each game.
Like with the addition of Castillo, Nagy could now seek an offensive coordinator who was a proven track record in the running game. One candidate could be recently fired Giants coach Pat Shurmur, whose offenses in New York -- led by star running back Saquon Barkley -- averaged 4.7 yards per carry across the last two seasons.
In Nagy's two seasons leading the Bears, their ground game has managed 3.9 yards per carry.