I was bored earlier and read back through some of our game threads and "thoughts" threads from 2018. The thing that stuck out to me most was how critical of Nagy's playcalling and in-game management we were even then: the lack of commitment to run, the inane personnel packages (Taquan Mizzell anyone?), over cutesiness, throwing short of sticks on 3rd down etc. Basically all of the same shit we've been bitching about this year and last. Yet by the end of the 2018 season we bought what he was selling because the team bought it and we did end up with 12 wins. The reality check of course came right away in 2019 and from then on, no one has been giving him a free pass. But when was that moment that you realized he was fraud? I think for me it was after the Saints game last year. After week 1 against the Packers I blamed it mostly on Mitch, but by the Saints game his failing to adjust to Mitch's weaknesses and total abandonment of the run was too much to tolerate. Then he topped it off with his infamous "I'm not an idiot" quote about knowing we needed to run more than 7 fucking times a game, which of course indicated that he is in fact an idiot with zero self-awareness.
This season. I gave the benefit of the doubt because last season there were a couple of really close losses that the bounces didn't go the bears' way--Oakland and the Chargers games to be exact but there were other frustrating 1 score games too where the offense did the bare minimum and the defense got pushed back. If 2 did go the bears' way, the Bears are 10-6 and win the tiebreaker over Minny and are in the playoffs 2 years in a row probably losing to San Francisco. Akiem Hicks being injured as of week 4/1st game against Minny also hurt because the defense was exposed at times last season. I put Mitch's regression on Mitch because too many times last season (as opposed to few this season) did Mitch just not see the wide-open receiver on 2nd or 3rd read. Typically it was the guy over the top too. To me, the scheme worked, the QB didn't as opposed to now--where the scheme needs all 11 guys to be perfect because it's cute/high risk and when 1 guy misses/doesn't complete his assignment perfectly, the play is fucked. And again to give Nagy the benefit of the doubt, he needed his guy, and I was fine with that. Enter Nick Foles. But now he has his guy, his guys sucks and still can't run the ball with a guy in Juan Castillo that had fixed 2 run offenses in Buffalo/Baltimore within the past 5 years prior to now and made them effective, and nothing works. It just finds ways to be more painful every week. Easy plays are pulling teeth and even last year when he ran the ball 7 times they didn't look that way, they looked like Mitch missed/Chase Daniel couldn't make the big throw.
Now that I think about it, you're right and this is what I thought too. I guess the "I'm not an idiot" moment was the largest red flag that in hindsight exposes him as the fraud he is.
Well the ridiculous kicker competition during the offseason def raised an eyebrow cos i remember writing something very critical about the way Nagy was allowing this to become too big an issue and it wasnt letting anyone move on and put that game behind them. And my faith def started to waver big time after that season opener loss to the Peckers. Cos it was just such a pathetic loss on Offense. The shoe salesman had spent preseason talking about how he didnt need his starters to play preseason and it wouldn't affect them and they'd be ready to roll. Then they put up 3 fucking points. I had a big problem with that. I prob never really trusted Nagy after that. But in terms of "knew"? Def after the Saints game. Personally i'd prob roll the Chargers game the following week into this as well cos of the play caller/HC dynamic but i'll get into that. As the playcaller, its important to remember what preceded that Saints game. The game before was the London game which Chase Daniel started cos Mitch got hurt the week before vs Min. And in that Raiders game Nagy came out throwing and barely stopped. Im gonna say Monty had like 10carries that whole game and there was some heat about it afterwards. Basically Nagy was an arrogant ass who thought his system was so great it didnt matter that a backup was running it, Nagy was gonna call his plays. So off the back of all that, and with 2 weeks to figure it out with the bye, to then come out and call just 7 running plays(5 to RB's), that told me all i needed to know. Fraud. But you also have to cover Nagy the fraud HC as well and that came the following week in the Chargers game when he elected to kick the FG on 3rd down and it was missed. That was the "Whad i say" postgame presser. Nagy had spent a year and a half telling us he was all about being aggressive, not letting up, it was part of his culture etc etc. So to go full Trestman and take a FG early cos you got scared showed that he wasnt just a fraud in terms of running an Offense, he was a fraud re the entire way he manages a team. It was all bullshit. And to act like such a prickly bitch in the postgame presser with his "whad i say. Turnover. Tackle for loss." it just proved it. Cos at crunch time Nagy's first thought was the fear of what might go wrong. It betrayed his true feelings which were that he didn't trust his Offense and didnt really believe in his own supposed philosophy.
Ev makes an excellent point. There are two parts to his fraud. 1. His scheme / playcalling / offensive guru qualities: even in 2018 there were signs, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt all the way until this season. Found this: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/index.htm - apparently last year the Bears offense was ALSO 29th. Enough is enough of this shit, I think it might've been around Indy that figure this was over. He is 100% Chip Kelly. Remember that shit? Was going to light the league up with his crazy gadget bullshit? That lasted half a season before it was figured out and he was bounced. The Saints game last year with the 7 runs "I'm not an idiot" - I still gave him some benefit of the doubt. 2. His motivational aspects / hired coordinators / "head coach" qualities: I think many guys here gave him more games because the guys were playing hard no matter what - they just sucked. The Bears D in this last game, good god. The latest presser he started talking about "good practice". I'd like to know how anyone could defend him at this point. And when we look back, the signs are all there on his poor decision making, I was willing to give him the chance to learn from his mistakes. He hasn't. Done. Like most things, I don't hate him, I don't hate Trubs, they seem like decent guys. But they also flat out aren't getting the job done and they've had enough rope. You know, this is an excellent point. Nagy talks a good game, says the right things like being aggressive and not letting up and then does the opposite. Pace talked all about drafting a QB every year, and he's drafted exactly....1 in his time here. Talk is cheap. Results matter.
Actually Chip Kelly had way more offensive success than Nagy ever had. Remember his teams put up 50+ points on multiple occasions, one of those times against us. And the starting QB for the Eagles in that game? Nick Foles, who would finish the season as the highest rated QB in the NFL.
Hard to say when it really dawned on me...there were warning signs all along. That Saints game is still hard to get out of my head. But so are all the cute plays. The Packers game from week 1 last season was a big moment for me as well.
This is fair, Chip's initial year was far more successful than Nagy's 2018. Just like Jerry Angelo had far more success than Pace has. Chicago Bears: recycling old ideas, but shittier this time! To your original question, I actually wonder when the *fans* discovered Nagy was a fraud. I'm sure there are defenders out there still, but it seems like every talking head, every fan that calls in, every other site I've gone to (I have avoided CCS, maybe I'll do that next) - all of them are on the Fire bandwagon. Shit I still see Mitch defenders out there, "he'll succeed somewhere else" - yeah, just like Grossman did. We know what he is at this point.
This team was flat and not ready to play the Packers, and the lack of playing time in the preseason just confirmed that notion especially when it came to Mitch. I never quite saw the logic behind not playing a QB with still so little experience and that never proved shit aside from the Buc's game the previous year. While that was telling I gave him the benefit of doubt that he could learn from that. It wasn't like he called a bad play here or a bad play there or went for it on a 4th down, he game in and game out seems oblivious to the flow of the game. The "idiot" quote was just the apostrophe to the end of a sentence because if your defense is saying you're not an idiot then chances are you are exactly just that an idiot and a fraud.
Icing on the cake was when he focused on the defence's work during the GB game. That's the act of a desperate man who really doesn't get the mechanics and subtleties of coaching a team.
