It was Monday afternoon (Jan. 8) when the Chicago Bears hired former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as the 19th head coach in their franchise's history. Nagy is the next out of the Andy Reid coaching tree, and he is one of the more highly regarded assistants according to players, and Reid himself. According to NFL.com's Adam Kaplan, "Andy Reid said that Matt Nagy is the best head coaching candidate's he's ever had." Considering the names that have come from Reid's coaching tree such as Ron Rivera, John Harbaugh, Doug Pederson, etc, that is extremely high praise.

Despite these facts, it will be interesting to see how the 39-year-old Nagy and the 40-year-old Bears general manager Ryan Pace will work with each other.

Is there a cause for concern?

Nagy took over play-calling duties from Reid as the Chiefs started off 6-0, but suffered five straight losses right after. As a result, the Chiefs finished 4-1 while putting up at least 26 points in every game in the process. At the end of the season, the Chiefs' offensive numbers were beyond impressive.

The concern for most is the fact that with his playcalling, the Chiefs blew a 20-3 lead against the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round.

Fact is, without Travis Kelce, the Chiefs passing game is not all that effective; and yes, even with speedster Tyreke Hill. However, I do not believe that is the real concern. As a matter of fact, the hiring of Nagy, despite only calling plays for six games, is not the concern at all. The real concern is what weapons will Pace put around Nagy and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky for both parties to succeed.

Last offseason, not only did the Pace miss out on many defensive weapons, but offensively as well. Alshon Jeffery did not want to come back to Chicago, Terrelle Pryor signed a "prove it" deal with the Washington Redskins, and Pierre Garcon picked the rebuilding San Francisco 49ers over the Bears. Even though a win increase from three to five is not much, it is progress.

Especially with a young, promising talent such as Trubisky, and a young, innovative offensive mind like Nagy, is there any excuse for Pace to not sign a big name like Jarvis Landry? Probably not.

Believe in Pace?

With the hiring of Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace seems to be on the right track with where he wants to be with the Bears. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller posted a note after Nagy's hiring.

What most Bears fans can hope for is that they follow the blueprint of this 2017's feel-good story of the Los Angeles Rams, and surround their young quarterback with weapons through the draft and free agency.

There is no doubt that Pace is excellent at drafting players, as this past season was a prime example, but free agency could be the deciding factor in where the Bears will be in 2018. With the pieces in place, the Bears need to be the Jacksonville Jaguars of this upcoming free agency, and maybe, just maybe, the NFC North will be a legit four-team race.
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