John Harbaugh apparently knew he had found his guy on the offensive side of the ball within 24 hours.
Once Harbaugh decided to join the Giants, many expected his former Ravens offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, to join him in New York.
But when Monken instead landed the Browns’ head coaching gig, Harbaugh called Matt Nagy, the ex-Chiefs offensive coordinator, which got the ball rolling.
In an interview with ESPN’s Peter Schrager, Nagy said he has scars from his previous tenure as the Bears head coach, a failed experiment as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator last year, and getting turned down in head coaching interviews this past offseason; namely by the Titans, who opted to go with a Robert Saleh-Brian Daboll union.
His departure from the Chiefs was framed as a “mutual parting of ways” as he interviewed for head coaching jobs, while Kansas City rehired Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator.
“Let’s let those scars go to work,” Nagy reveals Harbaugh said to him ahead of Week 1 of the NFL season. “We had a very candid conversation, and within 24 hours he hired me.”
Harbaugh also hired former Titans head coach Brian Callahan and Greg Roman to his staff, prompting skepticism from some pundits about how much leash Nagy would have as the playcaller.
“I’m so appreciative of coach Harbs for giving me an opportunity when the time came up,” Nagy said. “He believed in me, and he understands that I am a coach that has scars.”
Those scars include flaming out of Chicago as the playcaller after serving as the Bears’ head coach from 2018-21.
Nagy went 12-4 in his first year, won Coach of the Year and turned Mitchell Trubisky into a Pro Bowler.
It was a steady decline from there, as they appeared to get worse offensively.
The Chiefs also had their worst season in over a decade last year, going 5-11 before his departure as offensive coordinator.
In the Giants’ last three games, they are seventh in yards per play (5.8) despite now operating under their third starting quarterback in J.J. McCarthy.
