Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has yet to call a single play for the New York Giants and is already getting beaten up in his new landing spot. This isn't a huge surprise for Kansas City fans who watched the franchise average its fewest points per game over the last decade under Nagy's leadership. However, it is a bit of a surprise to sports media as a whole, given that the OC was considered for head coaching jobs. This hasn't stopped pundits from going after the coordinator, however, as SNY's Connor Hughes is already questioning Nagy's job security.
Hughes offered, "For Giants fans freaking out: John Harbaugh isn’t one to stay on a boat off course. If Matt Nagy doesn’t work, he’ll go to someone else."
We are months away from camp and preseason action, and Nagy is already facing scrutiny. Hughes wasn't alone in questioning the coach, with ESPN's Marcus Spears calling out the lack of quarterback success under Nagy. Spears lists the struggles of Nick Foles, Mitch Trubisky, Justin Fields, and Andy Dalton as reasons for concern.
When Nagy called plays, these were his starters, quickly destroying the illusion that Nagy is any kind of quarterback whisperer. Added to this is the fact that Patrick Mahomes has had three average seasons by his elite standards while Nagy was serving as the offensive coordinator. The best quarterback success story of Nagy's career was Alex Smith and the early part of Mahomes' career, when Nagy was the Chiefs' quarterbacks coach.
Ex-Chiefs OC Matt Nagy Already Taking Heat in New York
In fairness, it does appear that Nagy was a fallback option for new head coach John Harbaugh. If Todd Monken didn't land the Cleveland Browns head coaching job, the expectation was that he would join the Giants as the OC. There were also rumblings that the Giants wanted a younger up-and-coming option before the market became so incredibly picked over. This left Nagy as a fallback and explains why there is already negative coverage around the coach.
For Chiefs fans, this doesn't come as a surprise, given the shock that the coach was under consideration for a head role. While putting Nagy into an offensive coordinator position is less shocking, it is still an underwhelming decision for a franchise with an exciting young quarterback in Jaxson Dart.
To put it simply, Nagy has never called plays and gotten elite results from a quarterback. Whether it was a project player like Justin Fields, a veteran backup like Nick Foles, or the league's elite starter in Patrick Mahomes, Nagy's results were all incredibly overwhelming. This has to provide a bit of relief to Kansas City fans who were excited to turn the page and bring back Eric Bieniemy as the OC.
For Nagy, this is a warning sign of the important offseason that lies ahead. Another year of failure, and the early shine that came to light with Mahomes and Alex Smith is going to look like a product of Andy Reid's elite coaching, not pointing to any contributions of note from a coach that is understandably being questioned and exposed as we head deeper into the offseason.