LAKE FOREST (WBBM Newsradio) -- The Bears (12-4) are continuing preparations for the Eagles (9-7) with their wild-card round matchup looming at Soldier Field on Sunday. Here are the notes and observations of Wednesday.
First impression
One of the main reasons Bears general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy struck gold in their relationship is that they're both aggressive and instinctive. They're like-minded in matters of football and open for discussion on everything while also thinking outside the box. They also paid their dues to get where they are in the game.
Pace arrived in New Orleans in 2001 at a Saints job fair and got a marketing intern position. He took every assignment offered and burned the midnight oil watching tape in the scouting department, eventually becoming an assistant, then a scout, then pro director and then player personnel director before his move to the Bears in 2015 as the NFL’s youngest general manager.
His hiring of Nagy last January proved to be a turning point in Pace’s tenure. Fresh and fiery, Nagy's attention to detail, situational football, character, leadership and willingness to try everything under the sun to win fit what Pace sought in a head coach.
In every way, they're aligned.
Second thought
Nagy’s NFL journey started as a two-year coaching intern with the Eagles before a job in 2010 at the bottom of the Philadelphia coaching staff led by Andy Reid. Like Pace, Nagy bet on himself. He drove 99 miles each way every day from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to the Eagles' headquarters for his job as a coaches' assistant. He left at 3:30 a.m. and didn't get home until late at night that first season.
"There was a lot of reflection, I know that, wondering what in the hell am I doing," Nagy said. "I did it for six months during the season."
It was a foot in the door. For big dreamers and peak performers like Pace and Nagy, the reward was worth the risk. Nagy became the Eagles' offensive quality control coach in 2011 and 2012, then left with Reid for the Chiefs as quarterbacks coach in 2013. He was then promoted to offensive coordinator in 2016.
Third degree
After Doug Pederson’s retirement from the NFL as a quarterback in 2005, he took the head coaching job at Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana. In four years, he won 33 of his 40 games, making the playoffs in each of those seasons. Like Nagy, Pederson was hired by Reid to be the Eagles' offensive quality control coach, coming aboard in 2009. He was the quarterbacks coach in 2011 and then followed Reid to Kansas City as offensive coordinator until the Eagles hired him as head coach in 2016.
Nagy was with him every step of the way.
"Not just us, but our families are close," Nagy said. "Our wives are close. He’s got three boys, I’ve got four boys. He’s got a great family."
Bears tight end Trey Burton has played for both head coaches and feels Nagy is more fiery than Pederson. He believes both give their teams a platform to be themselves and have fun.
Nagy and Pederson worked out together, getting outside for runs. They golfed, they broke down quarterbacks and they would draw up plays and eat ice cream late at night.
"He loves the soft-serve vanilla ice cream with the rainbow sprinkles," Nagy said. "That’s his favorite, and he’ll admit that."
Fourth-and-short
Nagy helped Eagles quarterback Nick Foles experience a rebirth. Nagy and Foles worked together in Kansas City about 2 1/2 years ago, and Foles' love of the game came back. Nagy knows him as well as anyone.
"He’s a very confident kid in the huddle," Nagy said. "He knows where he’s going with the football. He’s a playmaker. He’s a big individual that can break tackles. He’s got a strong arm, and he’s football smart. He knows where to go with the football."