Five questions Matt Nagy must answer soon as new Bears head coach

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Matt Nagy will be introduced as the Bears’ head coachj Monday.

New Bears head coach Matt Nagy will be introduced at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Here are five questions he must answer in his first few days in charge:

1. Is Vic Fangio your defensive coordinator?

The Bears would like to keep Fangio, their coordinator for the past three years, in the same role. But he is now officially a free agent, meaning any team in the league — the Packers? — can try to lure him with a salary even larger than what he made last year. Fangio was considered one of the league’s highest-paid defensive coordinator under John Fox.

The interest in returning is at least somewhat mutual — it’s telling that, while three offensive staffers took new jobs in the last week, no one on the defensive side budged.

Nagy has never coached in college before, but he’ll have to put on his best recruiting pitch in the name of continuity.

2. What is your plan for Mitch Trubisky?

The Chiefs were among the teams interested in drafting Trubisky last offseason, prompted by positive reviews from Nagy, who was then the team’s offensive coordinator.

What did Nagy see then? During the season? Did he watch Trubisky at all? The Bears and Chiefs had only two common opponents.

What plan does he have to develop Trubisky in the quarterback’s first full NFL offseason? Will he be treated the same way as Alex Smith, another athletic quarterback who can throw on the run?

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3. What role will your offensive coordinator play?

The Bears wanted to hire a head coach who could call plays; that way, he couldn’t be poached by teams looking for their next head coach, the way Adam Gase was after a transformative 2015 season with Jay Cutler at quarterback. Having served in a similar role this season — Nagy didn’t call the Chiefs’ plays until Week 12 — Nagy understands the role of coordinator is still an important one.

As head coach, he’ll have responsibilities that go beyond running an offense. He’ll need a deputy who can run meetings and stay organized. Gase struggled with finding that assistant this year with the Dolphins, leading to his hire of Dowell Loggains last week.

4. How will you and general manager Ryan Pace work together?

Pace was clear last week that he’ll keep control of the 53-man roster. Given that Nagy is only 39 and has only really coached in one system — he followed Andy Reid from Philadelphia to Kansas City — will Pace take a lead role is assembling his coaching staff? Can Pace keep all the current Bears coaches he pleases? Who makes the final call?

5. Can you  answer injury questions directly?

No, really. That’d be a nice change.


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