Muristek
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and assistant coach Matt Nagy look on before their preseason game at Soldier Field in August.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Before he was the head coach of the Bears, Matt Nagy might have been responsible for star quarterback Patrick Mahomes landing with the Chiefs.
Speaking on the “New Heights” podcast — hosted by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, the Eagles center — Mahomes said Nagy made sure he would impress head coach Andy Reid during a five-hour meeting before the 2017 draft.
Typically, quarterbacks are quizzed about plays without advance notice during pre-draft meetings. The night before the meeting, Mahomes said, Nagy, who was then the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, slipped the Texas Tech quarterback a list of plays that were part of Reid’s upcoming test.
“He really liked me, so he gave me the plays they were gonna go over the night before ... ” he said in the podcast, which was released Wednesday. “Of course, I crushed the meeting.”
"If y'all let me go 12 or below I'm gonna get drafted by someone else"These @PatrickMahomes draft stories are mind-blowing 🤯THE PATRICK MAHOMES EPISODE with @JasonKelce & @tkelce is out NOW: https://t.co/ZlYmHA5kwB pic.twitter.com/sOW0iLmA6I
— New Heights (@newheightshow) December 1, 2022Mahomes started one game as a rookie in 2017. At the end of the season, the Bears hired Nagy as head coach. In the four full seasons since, Mahomes has won the NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP awards. He’s considered perhaps the best quarterback of his generation.
Nagy was fired after four seasons coaching the Bears and has since returned to Kansas City as an assistant.