Beyond the numbers, Nagy helped usher in a fun,
lively, pass-happy era of UD football, which for decades had been defined by Raymond’s signature “Wing-T” offense and its sweeping, misdirecting, power-running approach to play-calling. Defenses hardly stood a chance.

“I was fortunate that I got to chronicle that year,” says Kevin Tresolini, AS80, who covered the team for the Delaware News Journal starting in 1998. “Matt put on one of the most incredible displays of quarterbacking that I’ve seen. And what made it so interesting was it was also the evolution of the Wing-T. For Matt, they really kinda ripped that thing up and completely rewrote it to take advantage of throwing the football. He had some great receivers to throw it to. It was really fun to watch.”

Brian Ginn, who is a year older than Nagy, was often in direct competition with him for the quarterback role. But the two pushed each other, brought out the best in one another and would ultimately become good friends and roommates in a house on South College Avenue. 

“We competed hard, but we respected the way each of us worked,” Ginn says. “On Saturdays we both showed up regardless of who was playing and wanting to win.”

Ginn says there were glimmers of the future coach in Nagy, in the way he combined confidence, competitiveness and IQ to earn command of the locker room.

From arena football to real estate

Despite his eye-popping numbers at Delaware, Nagy was considered an on-the-bubble NFL prospect. He didn’t hear his name called at the 2001 NFL draft, and though small windows of opportunity would open on practice squads and third-string positions—including with the Philadelphia Eagles and then-head coach Andy Reid—he ultimately found himself on the outside looking in.

So Nagy found a home in the Arena Football League, a smaller, faster, indoor version of college football or the NFL. As leader of the New York Dragons, Nagy thrived in the pass-happy league, where the absence of out-of-bounds sidelines and fair catches creates a dizzying football-meets-pinball hybrid.

“I ended up loving it there,” Nagy says. “I found a lot of good friends, and I was playing too. But it made me learn a lot about life: Your path isn’t always what you think it’s going to be.”

In six AFL seasons, he posted more than 18,000 passing yards and 374 touchdown throws. The AFL also gave Nagy the chance to strengthen his play-calling chops. By his final few seasons, he was the ostensible offensive coordinator for his team, the Columbus Destroyers. 

But the AFL is not the NFL, and by 2008, the league was being battered by the Great Recession. Owners canceled the 2009 season, and Nagy again found himself at a crossroads. He’d obtained a real estate license to supplement his AFL paychecks during the offseason—but 2008 was not exactly a great time to sell houses, either.

“I was working in an area with new home construction, so I was sitting in a model home every day” Nagy recalls. “I did that for two years until Coach Reid called.”

Blue Hens to the rescue

That call came thanks to Brett Veach, HS02, EHD04M, a Blue Hen who had landed a job as an Eagles assistant coach and had been Nagy’s teammate at UD. Reid and Veach urged Nagy to take a 3-week summer internship with the team. It wasn’t glamorous, to say the least, but it was the NFL.

“I remember watching Matt as a coaching intern dragging bags of balls out to practice, or warming up the QBs on the sidelines. I have this image of him in my head just throwing footballs in the air to himself on the sidelines,” Tresolini says with a laugh. “He was the lowest guy on the coaching totem pole, at the very bottom. He just did whatever he had to do; it’s an amazing credit to Matt, his diligence, his knowhow, his perceptiveness when it comes to football.”

Reid mentored Nagy, who rose through the ranks and eventually joined Reid as quarterback coach and offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013.

Five years later, Nagy was a somewhat surprise choice of the Chicago Bears, who hired him in January 2018—on the heels of a pitiful 5-11, last-place campaign and seven years of playoff futility. But Nagy’s leadership (combined with a few key roster moves) and his ability to connect with his players delivered the Bears their first playoff appearance since 2010. Had it not been for a devastating missed field goal in the closing seconds against the Eagles, he’d have landed a win, too.

“We’re a young team and we did have success last year,” Nagy says. “Now that we have a year in the books, we can figure out those little things we can improve. I can do that on my end, the players can do that on their end, and you can’t get complacent. If you think you’re going to walk out there and just rely on what you did last year, you’ll be out of this league quicker than you can blink.”

One improvement Nagy made this winter: bringing on fellow Blue Hen Ginn as an assistant coach and Bilal Nichols, AS18, as defensive tackle.

“I remember walking into the first offensive meeting in progress in January, and I saw the same kid I knew in 1999,” Ginn says. “All that success, winning coach of the year, Matt’s still the same guy. Maybe a little more driven, but he’s the same person. It’s refreshing.”

To the Class of 2019, Nagy’s message was simple, but resonant: “There’s a lot of adversity that you’re going to face,” he said. “And in order to deal with it, you’ve just got trust what got you to that point and learn from your experiences. I really believe that the people who are successful are the ones who have dealt with adversity or some challenges, then responded in the right way.”  

Be you: An excerpt from Coach Nagy’s Commencement Address to the Class of 2019

On game days, I carry an 11x17 play call sheet, and I always put a BE YOU in the corner. Chicago media kept asking what it means, and I told them the answer’s pretty simple. Two years ago, I’m coaching with the Chiefs.
Six games left to go in the year, Coach
[Andy] Reid decided to hand me the play calling duty. He said, “This is your opportunity. Take it and run.” We play the Titans in the playoffs; we’re doing well in the first half, winning 20-0, and they come back and beat us. It was devastating. Season’s done. Over.

Well it just so happens, in less than 12 hours, I got the biggest interview of my life to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears, followed by another with the Indianapolis Colts. And I’m crushed. I’m driving home, and all of a sudden my phone rings. It’s my oldest son Brayden, 13, and he goes, “Dad, did you call the plays in the second half?” I started laughing. I said, “Dude. Yes, I called the plays.” He goes, “Dad, still going to get that interview tomorrow morning?” I said, “Bray—” “No, Dad, I’m serious. You going to get it?” He asked three times, and I said, “Yes, I’ll be fine, you start recovering when things like this happen—” and he cut me off. He said, “Dad, tomorrow morning, just be you.”

And so that night, my agent called, and said, “The Bears are feeling bad for you and want to move the interview back an hour or two so you can get some sleep.” I said, “No, let’s move it up to 6 a.m.” (It was supposed to be at 8). My son got me fired up. At the end of the five hours, I’m telling them how bad I want to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears, and George McCaskey, our chairman, said, “Matt, stop. When you tuck Brayden into bed tonight, tell him, ‘Good advice.’”

That “being you” part didn’t happen to me from 2001, when I graduated, to 2009, when I was trying to find out who I was. It’s not going to happen right away, and it’s not always rosy. But this is what my BE YOU is now: Trust your gut. Take calculated risks. Be different. Stay humble. Learn names. And most importantly, have fun.