Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2018 6:57:40 GMT -6
How Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace are collaborating to reshape the Bears
Rich CampbellRich CampbellContact ReporterChicago Tribune
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-ryan-pace-matt-nagy-collaboration-20180331-story.html
As Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy boarded the Cessna 680 in Kansas City, Mo., in the late afternoon of Jan. 8, it was only natural for them to sit together. There was enough room on the twin-engine jet for the newly partnered football men to talk business on one side while their wives and Nagy’s three boys relaxed on the other.
For Nagy, the flight to Wheeling was 62 minutes of relative calm. On the ground behind him was life as the Chiefs offensive coordinator. Ahead were new challenges and responsibilities for the 16th head coach in Bears history.
Nagy and Pace had generated momentum during their interview and dinner the previous day, and Nagy’s zeal powered them forward in midair. After all the big-picture topics he had discussed with the general manager — philosophies, scheme, staff — Nagy was ready for details.
“It was funny,” Pace recalled. “Literally, the very first personnel conversation we had centered around the tight end.”
Specifically, the “U” tight end, as Nagy calls it. Pace knew it as the “F.” Different labels for the same role: the pass-catching tight end who usually lines up in the slot but can play from various spots. The position is extremely important to Nagy’s system because of the mismatches it can create against linebackers and safeties. The new coach needed his boss to know that.
The interrogation began. Which tight ends were under contract? Who would be available in free agency in March? In the draft in April?
Pace had a free agent for him: Trey Burton.
Burton’s magic Super Bowl moment was unscripted at the time, still a month away. But by then the nimble reserve had five touchdown catches for the Eagles, who run a similar offense coached by Nagy’s former colleague Doug Pederson.
The fit was obvious. And with that, just 15 hours into Nagy’s tenure as Bears coach, their free-agency plan had an A section.
That quickly, Pace had a dividend from his investment in Nagy to help strengthen the Bears identity as an offense-driven team. That conversation about the U tight end, and other similar ones since their plane landed, are exactly why Pace sought a new coach with good communication skills, an innovative mind and a hands-on approach to installing the offense and calling plays.
“It just gives you so much more confidence as an evaluator because you know when you add a guy, there’s a vision and a role for him that he’s going to be put into for him to succeed, instead of trying to stick a square peg in a round hole,” Pace said.
“Around the league, you can see, even from afar, when a personnel department and a coaching department is connected on the vision for the player and when they’re not. I feel like we’re very connected on the vision for the players that we’re adding.”
That confidence has strengthened over the last 12 weeks, leading to players’ return to Halas Hall on Tuesday. While NFL rules have prohibited the new coaches from working with players, Nagy and Pace have used the time to collaborate on their vision and seize their opportunity to reshape the team’s identity and makeup.
“Ryan will come to me and ask: ‘What are we? Who are we?’” Nagy explained. “He’s not telling me: ‘We’re this. We’re that.’ He’s asking me. When he starts asking those questions, I’m able to say, ‘Hey, listen, this will help.’”
A tight fit
Having never been a head coach, Nagy is unaccustomed to carrying this much weight in personnel evaluations. Daily meetings with the scouting department are just one of his added responsibilities. But he is naturally thorough when scouting players, eschewing shorter video cut-ups of a player’s noteworthy plays to instead watch four or five full games.
That commitment quickly earned Pace’s respect. More than a few times this offseason, the GM has dropped an index card on the coach’s desk, detailing a player about whom Pace covets Nagy’s opinion.
“I can pick up phone and call Matt at 3 in the morning, and he’s going to answer on the first ring, and right away we’re talking football,” Pace said. “I just appreciate his drive and his dedication to get this going. We share that, and it’s a fun time to be together.”
Pace’s determination to be collaborative in shaping the roster under their shared vision “means the world,” Nagy said.
“That partnership that Ryan and I talk about … extended into our coaches and scouts. When you have those two departments working together, you end up getting what you want in free agency.”
Their haul to start the signing period was headlined by three pass catchers: Burton, receiver Allen Robinson and slot receiver Taylor Gabriel were fully guaranteed a total of $50 million.
Burton came to Pace’s mind in that initial conversation as Nagy described how he used Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, a three-time Pro Bowler who averaged six touchdowns and 1,082 yards over the last two seasons. The U tight end, Nagy explained, is easy to design plays for if he has the right combination of size and speed.
“It’s about mismatches,” Nagy told reporters Tuesday. “So if you get a small nickel (cornerback) on him and they want to play nickel, he can use his size to be able to body him up. If they want to put a bigger guy on him, we can use his speed.”
The more Nagy and Pace scouted Burton’s profile, the stronger their conviction became. At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, he’s 2 inches shorter and 25 pounds lighter than Kelce. But they still believe he possesses quality physical traits, particularly as a route runner and pass catcher.
“Then, you couple that with the added advantage (that) he already knows the offense (from the Eagles), and … Matt knows a lot of the same people on that staff,” Pace said. “So we feel like we knew a lot about him as a person, which reduces your risk in free agency.”
And, to be clear, Pace acknowledges the risk. Kelce was a third-round draft pick in 2013; Burton entered the league in 2014 as an undrafted free agent. Burton has been a reserve his whole career, with only one touchdown catch before last season.
The decision to essentially guarantee Burton $22 million over the next three seasons required Pace and Nagy to project his production in a starting role. And that outlook centers on Nagy’s vision for all of the Bears tight ends, including blocking tight ends Dion Sims and Adam Shaheen.
Said Pace: “When we describe a player to Matt or we watch a player together, he’ll say, ‘Oh, this guy fits perfect because we can use him in this role,’ and, ‘OK, these are his strengths and weaknesses. We can highlight his strengths by doing X, Y and Z. I don’t care that he can’t do this because we’re not going to ask him to do that.’”
“Trey is not a huge 6-5, 260 guy,” Nagy said. “That’s not who he is. He doesn’t have the body size of Shaheen (6-6, 270). He has to use technique because of that. So his (blocking) technique is good. He’s more than fine. The ways that we’re going to use him, he’ll do a great job.”
Flex spending
Projecting how Robinson and Gabriel fit into Nagy’s scheme required less nuance than Burton. The wide receiver position involves less blocking, and usually there are more of them on the field. Basically, the Bears wanted playmaking receivers to help Nagy and quarterback Mitch Trubisky breathe life into the NFL’s 29th-ranked scoring team.
They scouted potential free agents, ranked them and assigned each a dollar value with an understanding that a team can’t always get a free agent to agree to its price. Within that dynamic, flexibility is required. A willingness to flow from Plan A to B to C.
Nagy has established that with Pace.
“I’m not telling him, “We’ve got to have this guy,’” Nagy said. “If we don’t get that guy for whatever reason, then that’s OK. That’s important to have that. He understands that we’ll try to get this guy as much as we can — whether it’s the draft or a free-agent signing — if I understand that he tried his best to get him. And he understands that I don’t care if we don’t get him because of other reasons.”
Now that the receiver market settled and the top free agents found teams, it’s notable that the Bears agreed with Robinson and Gabriel on contracts that are less expensive, respectively, than Sammy Watkins’ with the Chiefs and Albert Wilson’s with the Dolphins.
That doesn’t necessarily indicate how the Bears ranked those receivers, but it does highlight the importance of understanding Pace and Nagy’s comfort signing the two they did.
Pursuit of Robinson spawned from Pace’s insistence on adding what he called a “top-tier receiver,” while noting the scarcity of them on the open market.
Robinson’s production in 2015 — 14 touchdowns and 1,400 yards — represents an enormous upgrade from anything the Bears had in 2017. The decision to sign him, though, depended on his personality and surgically reconstructed left knee.
Bears safety Adrian Amos was Robinson’s roommate at Penn State, and cornerback Prince Amukamara was his teammate with the Jaguars in 2016. Their intel reassured Pace.
The GM also learned enough about Robinson’s knee to be convinced that his ongoing recovery will lead back to top form, which naturally has the new coach and play-caller excited.
“He’s a guy that presents a lot of problems to defensive backs just because of his ability with his size,” Nagy said. “But he’s a good route runner. He’s able to, if you have a smaller DB on him, he can beat you up with his size. A bigger DB, he can beat you up with his route running.”
Gabriel was attractive because of his speed, not only on vertical routes, but also in the screen game and on shorter throws that are featured in Nagy’s West Coast offense. The Bears also like his energetic personality.
“When you get a big guy and a small guy, and now you have other pieces around him with some of the other guys we already have, it’s a good mix,” Nagy said.
The same can be said of Nagy and Pace early in their partnership. Aligned with their vision and trusting in the other to achieve it — together.
rcampbell@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @rich_Campbell
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2018, Chicago Tribune
Rich CampbellRich CampbellContact ReporterChicago Tribune
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-ryan-pace-matt-nagy-collaboration-20180331-story.html
As Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy boarded the Cessna 680 in Kansas City, Mo., in the late afternoon of Jan. 8, it was only natural for them to sit together. There was enough room on the twin-engine jet for the newly partnered football men to talk business on one side while their wives and Nagy’s three boys relaxed on the other.
For Nagy, the flight to Wheeling was 62 minutes of relative calm. On the ground behind him was life as the Chiefs offensive coordinator. Ahead were new challenges and responsibilities for the 16th head coach in Bears history.
Nagy and Pace had generated momentum during their interview and dinner the previous day, and Nagy’s zeal powered them forward in midair. After all the big-picture topics he had discussed with the general manager — philosophies, scheme, staff — Nagy was ready for details.
“It was funny,” Pace recalled. “Literally, the very first personnel conversation we had centered around the tight end.”
Specifically, the “U” tight end, as Nagy calls it. Pace knew it as the “F.” Different labels for the same role: the pass-catching tight end who usually lines up in the slot but can play from various spots. The position is extremely important to Nagy’s system because of the mismatches it can create against linebackers and safeties. The new coach needed his boss to know that.
The interrogation began. Which tight ends were under contract? Who would be available in free agency in March? In the draft in April?
Pace had a free agent for him: Trey Burton.
Burton’s magic Super Bowl moment was unscripted at the time, still a month away. But by then the nimble reserve had five touchdown catches for the Eagles, who run a similar offense coached by Nagy’s former colleague Doug Pederson.
The fit was obvious. And with that, just 15 hours into Nagy’s tenure as Bears coach, their free-agency plan had an A section.
That quickly, Pace had a dividend from his investment in Nagy to help strengthen the Bears identity as an offense-driven team. That conversation about the U tight end, and other similar ones since their plane landed, are exactly why Pace sought a new coach with good communication skills, an innovative mind and a hands-on approach to installing the offense and calling plays.
“It just gives you so much more confidence as an evaluator because you know when you add a guy, there’s a vision and a role for him that he’s going to be put into for him to succeed, instead of trying to stick a square peg in a round hole,” Pace said.
“Around the league, you can see, even from afar, when a personnel department and a coaching department is connected on the vision for the player and when they’re not. I feel like we’re very connected on the vision for the players that we’re adding.”
That confidence has strengthened over the last 12 weeks, leading to players’ return to Halas Hall on Tuesday. While NFL rules have prohibited the new coaches from working with players, Nagy and Pace have used the time to collaborate on their vision and seize their opportunity to reshape the team’s identity and makeup.
“Ryan will come to me and ask: ‘What are we? Who are we?’” Nagy explained. “He’s not telling me: ‘We’re this. We’re that.’ He’s asking me. When he starts asking those questions, I’m able to say, ‘Hey, listen, this will help.’”
A tight fit
Having never been a head coach, Nagy is unaccustomed to carrying this much weight in personnel evaluations. Daily meetings with the scouting department are just one of his added responsibilities. But he is naturally thorough when scouting players, eschewing shorter video cut-ups of a player’s noteworthy plays to instead watch four or five full games.
That commitment quickly earned Pace’s respect. More than a few times this offseason, the GM has dropped an index card on the coach’s desk, detailing a player about whom Pace covets Nagy’s opinion.
“I can pick up phone and call Matt at 3 in the morning, and he’s going to answer on the first ring, and right away we’re talking football,” Pace said. “I just appreciate his drive and his dedication to get this going. We share that, and it’s a fun time to be together.”
Pace’s determination to be collaborative in shaping the roster under their shared vision “means the world,” Nagy said.
“That partnership that Ryan and I talk about … extended into our coaches and scouts. When you have those two departments working together, you end up getting what you want in free agency.”
Their haul to start the signing period was headlined by three pass catchers: Burton, receiver Allen Robinson and slot receiver Taylor Gabriel were fully guaranteed a total of $50 million.
Burton came to Pace’s mind in that initial conversation as Nagy described how he used Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, a three-time Pro Bowler who averaged six touchdowns and 1,082 yards over the last two seasons. The U tight end, Nagy explained, is easy to design plays for if he has the right combination of size and speed.
“It’s about mismatches,” Nagy told reporters Tuesday. “So if you get a small nickel (cornerback) on him and they want to play nickel, he can use his size to be able to body him up. If they want to put a bigger guy on him, we can use his speed.”
The more Nagy and Pace scouted Burton’s profile, the stronger their conviction became. At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, he’s 2 inches shorter and 25 pounds lighter than Kelce. But they still believe he possesses quality physical traits, particularly as a route runner and pass catcher.
“Then, you couple that with the added advantage (that) he already knows the offense (from the Eagles), and … Matt knows a lot of the same people on that staff,” Pace said. “So we feel like we knew a lot about him as a person, which reduces your risk in free agency.”
And, to be clear, Pace acknowledges the risk. Kelce was a third-round draft pick in 2013; Burton entered the league in 2014 as an undrafted free agent. Burton has been a reserve his whole career, with only one touchdown catch before last season.
The decision to essentially guarantee Burton $22 million over the next three seasons required Pace and Nagy to project his production in a starting role. And that outlook centers on Nagy’s vision for all of the Bears tight ends, including blocking tight ends Dion Sims and Adam Shaheen.
Said Pace: “When we describe a player to Matt or we watch a player together, he’ll say, ‘Oh, this guy fits perfect because we can use him in this role,’ and, ‘OK, these are his strengths and weaknesses. We can highlight his strengths by doing X, Y and Z. I don’t care that he can’t do this because we’re not going to ask him to do that.’”
“Trey is not a huge 6-5, 260 guy,” Nagy said. “That’s not who he is. He doesn’t have the body size of Shaheen (6-6, 270). He has to use technique because of that. So his (blocking) technique is good. He’s more than fine. The ways that we’re going to use him, he’ll do a great job.”
Flex spending
Projecting how Robinson and Gabriel fit into Nagy’s scheme required less nuance than Burton. The wide receiver position involves less blocking, and usually there are more of them on the field. Basically, the Bears wanted playmaking receivers to help Nagy and quarterback Mitch Trubisky breathe life into the NFL’s 29th-ranked scoring team.
They scouted potential free agents, ranked them and assigned each a dollar value with an understanding that a team can’t always get a free agent to agree to its price. Within that dynamic, flexibility is required. A willingness to flow from Plan A to B to C.
Nagy has established that with Pace.
“I’m not telling him, “We’ve got to have this guy,’” Nagy said. “If we don’t get that guy for whatever reason, then that’s OK. That’s important to have that. He understands that we’ll try to get this guy as much as we can — whether it’s the draft or a free-agent signing — if I understand that he tried his best to get him. And he understands that I don’t care if we don’t get him because of other reasons.”
Now that the receiver market settled and the top free agents found teams, it’s notable that the Bears agreed with Robinson and Gabriel on contracts that are less expensive, respectively, than Sammy Watkins’ with the Chiefs and Albert Wilson’s with the Dolphins.
That doesn’t necessarily indicate how the Bears ranked those receivers, but it does highlight the importance of understanding Pace and Nagy’s comfort signing the two they did.
Pursuit of Robinson spawned from Pace’s insistence on adding what he called a “top-tier receiver,” while noting the scarcity of them on the open market.
Robinson’s production in 2015 — 14 touchdowns and 1,400 yards — represents an enormous upgrade from anything the Bears had in 2017. The decision to sign him, though, depended on his personality and surgically reconstructed left knee.
Bears safety Adrian Amos was Robinson’s roommate at Penn State, and cornerback Prince Amukamara was his teammate with the Jaguars in 2016. Their intel reassured Pace.
The GM also learned enough about Robinson’s knee to be convinced that his ongoing recovery will lead back to top form, which naturally has the new coach and play-caller excited.
“He’s a guy that presents a lot of problems to defensive backs just because of his ability with his size,” Nagy said. “But he’s a good route runner. He’s able to, if you have a smaller DB on him, he can beat you up with his size. A bigger DB, he can beat you up with his route running.”
Gabriel was attractive because of his speed, not only on vertical routes, but also in the screen game and on shorter throws that are featured in Nagy’s West Coast offense. The Bears also like his energetic personality.
“When you get a big guy and a small guy, and now you have other pieces around him with some of the other guys we already have, it’s a good mix,” Nagy said.
The same can be said of Nagy and Pace early in their partnership. Aligned with their vision and trusting in the other to achieve it — together.
rcampbell@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @rich_Campbell
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2018, Chicago Tribune
