Chicago Bears: One Name Nagy Should Steal from Chiefs

The Chicago Bears were decisive in their action on the head coaching front. They had their list of interviews and upon completion made their choice.

Matt Nagy had the advantage of going last and didn’t waste the opportunity. The Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator made it clear from the outset. Not only was he ready for the chance, he wanted it. Rumors persisted for weeks that the 39-year old coveted the Bears job in particular. Much of that due to the presence of quarterback Mitch Trubisky whom he fell in love with during the pre-draft process last spring.

Now he’s gotten his wish. Nagy is the new Bears head coach. The next order of business is building the best possible staff he can. That starts of course with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Nagy reportedly is interested in keeping the 59-year old in place after producing what was the 10th ranked defense in the NFL last season. No doubt several players would love this move but Fangio is a free agent and in high demand. Nothing is guaranteed.

While that continues, Nagy must look to other slots to fill. The odds are he may look to his offensive staff left behind in Kansas City for one or two solutions. If that’s the case there is one name he may want to consider.

Greg Lewis has carved a rapid path through the NFL

Most casual fans remember the name Greg Lewis for that miracle touchdown catch he made against San Francisco in 2009. The one that most feel set the team on course to reach the NFC championship. It was the biggest highlight by far of his playing career. It didn’t do much to extend it though. He only played one more season in 2010 before deciding to retire in 2011. It didn’t take long for him to transition to coaching. He took an internship at San Diego college and has since worked his way rapidly up the ladder.

He became wide receivers coach at San Jose State in 2013, took the same position at Pitt in 2014 and was soon plucked by the New Orleans Saints for an offensive assistant job in 2015. Philadelphia then grabbed him for their receivers job in 2016 and finally the Chiefs this past season. In a span of just five years Lewis has worked under some of the top offensive coaches in the NFL including Sean Payton, Doug Pederson and Andy Reid.

Lewis caught a lot of flak for how his receivers performed in 2016 for the Eagles. This despite dealing with a very young group who was playing with a rookie quarterback. He did manage to get improvement out of Nelson Agholor and a solid year from Jordan Matthews but not enough to save him. It seems the Chiefs weren’t turned off by what happened as they hired him shortly after. Seems that was the right call.

Lewis got career bests out of Chiefs WRs in 2017

The 2017 season was a moment of redemption for Lewis. His corps, despite injury problems performed very well. Both Tyreek Hill and Albert Wilson ended up giving their best seasons to date in Kansas City. Hill led the team with 1,183 yards while Wilson had 554. It’s proof that Lewis learned some valuable lessons from his failures in Philadelphia and also seems to have a strong relationship working with Nagy.

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The coach is only 37-years old and appears to be getting better with each season. Given the lowly status of the Bears wide receiving corps, they could really use somebody with vast experience on how to play the position to help fix it. Lewis has now coached it for two seasons and played it another eight. It’s fair to say he could be a big help to Nagy in his efforts to turn the offense around.