HEADLINE

Bears ‘impressed’ with Matt Nagy, GM Ryan Pace

Field Level Media

January 13, 2021 at 6:14 pm.

The Chicago Bears on Wednesday made it official that coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace would return in 2021, noting that they were “impressed” with how the two kept the team together during a midseason six-game skid.

The Bears finished 8-8 but were bounced from the playoffs in last week’s wild-card loss to the New Orleans Saints.

“I was impressed with both of them this past season, especially during the six-game losing streak,” Bears chairman George McCaskey said Wednesday. “The fact that our players never gave up is a tribute to the players. It is also indicative of the type of players that Ryan acquires and to the players’ regard for Matt as their head coach.

“Have mistakes been made? Yes. But I think both Ryan and Matt are learning and growing in their roles,” McCaskey said. “The decisions we’re announcing today may not be the easiest or most popular but we believe they’re the best decisions for the Bears.”

Pace enters the final year of his contract and neither was given an extension.

“When we see improvements, contracts will take care of themselves,” Bears president Ted Phillips said.

That success will center on improving the quarterback situation, an issue McCaskey said he believes Nagy and Pace will correct in 2021.

“We need better production from the quarterback position to be successful,” McCaskey said.

The Bears drafted Mitchell Trubisky No. 2 overall in the 2017 draft but he hasn’t developed into a star quarterback.

Nagy and Pace came under scrutiny as the Bears slumped to the end of the 2020 season. Chicago started 5-1 but lost its next six games. A three-game winning streak followed, but the Bears were blown out by the Green Bay Packers in the regular-season finale and wound up sneaking into the postseason thanks to other results.

Nagy, 42, was selected as the NFL Coach of the Year after his first season on the job, when he led the 2018 Bears to a 12-4 mark. A pair of 8-8 seasons have followed. He has yet to win a playoff game in two appearances.

Pace, 43, took over the Bears front office in 2015. Chicago owns a 42-54 regular-season record and an 0-2 playoff mark during his tenure.