'How lucky am I?': For Matt Nagy, a fateful — and Chicago — connection to Coach K has proved energizing
CHICAGO - A day after the Bears defeated the Packers last December, clinching the NFC North championship in exhilarating fashion, a lifelong fan in North Carolina reached out to Halas Hall with a request to speak with Matt Nagy. Chicago native Mike Krzyzewski wanted first to offer his congratulations on Nagy's achievement, with the first-year coach reviving a franchise that had finished in last place for four consecutive seasons.
But as the host of "Basketball and Beyond," a wide-ranging talk show on Sirius XM Radio, Krzyzewski also wanted Nagy on the air to talk shop, to exchange leadership ideas, to sift through some of the secrets to the Bears coach's early success.
When Nagy learned of the request, he quickly adjusted his schedule. "I mean, this is Coach K," he said.
Thus for 20 minutes on that Monday morning a year ago, the two coaches - one a Hall of Fame college basketball legend with more than 1,100 career victories and the other a then-40-year-old NFL novice with just 14 games under his belt - chatted openly.
