Alliance... » Matt Nagy is making an impressive first impression

Nagy has helped develop second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky into a solid NFL starter Womens Walter Payton Jersey , convinced Vic Fangio to stay on as defensive coordinator, and has the Chicago Bears in position to earn their first playoff berth since 2010 in his first year on the job.For doing all that, Nagy was picked as having done the NFL’s best coaching job in 2018 in voting released Friday by a panel of 10 football writers for The Associated Press.Nagy received seven of the 10 first-place votes for his work leading the Bears (9-4) to the top of the NFC North behind an improved offense led by Trubisky and a fierce defense spearheaded by preseason acquisition Khalil Mack.“(Nagy’s) overseen a total turnaround of the Bears in just his first year as an NFL head coach, taking a team that hadn’t finished above .500 since 2012 and turning them into the best of the NFC North,” said Washington-based Howard Fendrich, who voted Nagy first. “He’s an offensive guru who learned from former boss Andy Reid, and Chicago’s play calling has been creative and fun — and overcome limitations at the QB spot to be good enough to let a superb defense lead the way.”Seattle’s Pete Carroll finished second in the voting for rebuilding the Seahawks on the fly following the departure of most key members from the Super Bowl-winning Legion of Boom defense.The Seahawks can clinch a playoff spot with a win this week despite losing key players Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor and Cliff Avril in the past year. Star safety Earl Thomas has also been sidelined most of the season, but it hasn’t slowed down the Seahawks.“For the second time, Carroll is retooling Seattle’s roster,” said New York-based Barry Wilner, who voted Carroll second behind Nagy. “Yet he’s somehow improved the team in the first year of that rebuild. This is a textbook case of a coaches’ heavy influence on a club’s success.”Carroll finished second despite not getting a first-place vote. The other coaches named No. 1 on ballots were Indianapolis first-year coach Frank Reich Gale Sayers Jersey , who got one vote, and New England’s Bill Belichick, who got two.Reich, who has helped a healthy Andrew Luck regain his top form, finished eighth overall. He wasn’t even the top choice for the Colts, only getting the job after Josh McDaniels backed out shortly after Reich won the Super Bowl as offensive coordinator in Philadelphia.“He took a team that went 4-12 last year, worked through a rough 1-5 start that could’ve easily turned into another losing season, and has them in playoff contention,” said Philadelphia-based Rob Maaddi, who voted Reich first. “Reich’s success in Indy coupled with Philadelphia’s offensive misery since his departure after the Super Bowl prove his value.”Belichick, who has a record five Super Bowl titles, finished in ninth place despite getting two first-place votes. Some voters believed this year wasn’t his best coaching job, but he still had strong support from others.“Despite the “Miami Miracle” http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-mike-singletary-jersey , he has the Patriots on the verge of a 10th consecutive division title,” New York-based Simmi Buttar said. “Aside from quarterback of course, this is hardly the most talented roster in Foxborough, yet it would surprise no one if they once again reached the Super Bowl.”Belichick was one of seven coaches named as a top 10 coach on all 10 ballots, joining Nagy, Carroll, third-place Andy Reid of Kansas City, fifth-place Sean McVay of the Rams, sixth-place Bill O’Brien of Houston, and seventh-place Sean Payton of New Orleans.Reid had the Chiefs tied for the most wins in the league through Week 14 after targeting quarterback Pat Mahomes in the 2017 draft and then cutting ties with longtime starter Alex Smith in the offseason to give Mahomes a chance.Mahomes has thrown a league-high 45 TD passes and is the latest quarterback to thrive under Reid’s tutelage.“Sure, the Chiefs were expected to be good this year, but Reid went all in with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback — and this year’s squad could be the veteran coach’s best chance at a Super Bowl since his days in Philadelphia,” New York-based Dennis Wazsak Jr. said.The Chargers’ Anthony Lynn was on nine of 10 ballots and finished fourth overall Womens Dick Butkus Jersey , while John Harbaugh of Baltimore came in 10th place. LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP)Cornerback Prince Amukamara appreciated the give and take with new Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy at Tuesday’s practice.For the defense, as non-contact organized team activities began there was a lot of taking – and then they really gave it to Nagy and his fledgling offense.”He’s an offensive coach and last year coach (John) Fox, I couldn’t really talk stuff to because he’s a defensive coach,” Amukamara said. ”And it’s like Nagy’s offense, so if I get a pick or something … I like to talk stuff to him.”The idea for the defense since offseason started was maintaining continuity with players and with coaches, even while the head coach had changed.The addition of a few new pieces hasn’t hurt, and now defensive players believe they have what’s needed to improve on last year when they ranked 10th overall.And Nagy is also a believer, even if he and offensive players are getting kidded at practice from Amukamara or defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.”Right now there’s a trust from one another because they’ve been together,” Nagy said. ”There’s that experience factor, which is good. And they believe what they’ve got going on with Vic’s system.”When you have that, that’s always good. So they just kind of want to grow from any mistakes they made last year, different areas of the game they can improve on William Perry Jersey , and that’s what they’re doing right now.”Linebacker Danny Trevathan pointed to the retention of Fangio as a key. Fangio re-signed after his bid to become head coach was denied following Fox’s firing.”I was excited to have Vic back,” Trevathan said. ”I was kind of nervous about him leaving. I feel like I really wanted him back.”He’s one of our leaders and he’s one of the guys we can go to for calls and advice on things.”Keeping the entire starting secondary together was also important. The Bears could have lost starting cornerback Kyle Fuller or his good friend Amukamara as free agents, but retained both.Amukamara pointed to Seattle’s ability to keep Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor together as an example of what familiarity can do for a secondary.”So when you have that continuity and the language stays the same, meaning the plays, it just becomes second nature,” Amukamara said. ”Guys play faster. Guys know what to expect.”They know how teams are going to attack them and all that is a recipe for success.”Although intact, the Bears secondary has problems to correct. They’ve made a franchise record low of eight interceptions each of the last three seasons.”I think personally on the back end it’s our job to take the ball away,” Amukamara said.”I think we had our opportunities last year and just needed to capitalize on them.”And I would say that for the most part, just taking the ball away, I think we did a great job last year. I think we were (third) at forcing fumbles and recovering them. So I think this year, just catching them, intercepting it.”One change the defense did make is drafting inside linebacker Roquan Smith in the first round to challenge Trevathan and Nick Kwiatkoski for playing time.Trevathan realizes Smith threatens his job security http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-mike-ditka-jersey , but also thinks the extra speed and depth is something the defense lacked..”We got the right guy to fit our defense,” Trevathan said. ”He’s working his tail off and he fits in with our linebacker group.”Nagy appreciated Smith’s quickness defending one pass play on the outside.A forced turnover a few minutes later had the defense chortling, while Nagy had to address his offense.”We like that because that’s the kind of defense we are,” Trevathan said. ”We’re going to be in your face making plays, but at the same time we’re having fun and we’re all getting better at the same time.”NOTES: Outside linebacker Aaron Lynch returned to practice after suffering an ankle injury at the April 17-19 minicamp. . After offseason surgery, right guard Kyle Long was able to participate in the offense’s installation, but did not take part in scrimmage. Nagy said it’s likely Long will stay at right guard. Last year some thought had been given to playing Long at left guard. … Wide receiver Allen Robinson is still sidelined while rehabbing a torn ACL. Nagy called Robinson ”ahead of the game” with his recovery.—