Brad Childress; during games, Childress worked from a stadium skybox and Nagy on the sidelines. Although Reid called the plays, Nagy directly communicated with the quarterback. Before the 2017 season, the New York Jets attempted to hire Nagy as offensive coordinator, but the move was blocked by the Chiefs; then-Jets head coach Todd Bowles is a family friend of the Nagys, having played for Nagy's father in high school as well as working alongside Nagy on the Eagles coaching staff in 2012. When Childress was promoted to assistant head coach, Nagy became the lone offensive coordinator. In December, with the Chiefs at 6–5 after a 5–0 start to the season, Reid ceded play-calling duties to Nagy. Under Nagy, the Chiefs finished the regular season 4–1 and averaged 28.6 points during the stretch. Kansas City's offense, which ranked 20th in 2016, was the fifth-best unit in 2017; quarterback Alex Smith led the NFL in passer rating with 104.7 as he threw for a career-best 26 touchdown passes and 4,042 passing yards. In the Wild Card Round, the Chiefs were defeated by the Tennessee Titans after the Titans erased a 21–3 deficit in the second half to win 22–21; amid rumors that Reid was calling plays again, Nagy reaffirmed he was doing so and called the game a "failure in my book." Chicago Bears On January 8, 2018, Nagy was hired by the Chicago Bears to become the 16th head coach in team history. Reid gave his support for Nagy and called him the "best head-coaching candidate he's ever had." Nagy is the first Delaware alumnus to become an NFL head coach. In assembling his staff, Nagy convinced defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who led a top-ten-ranked Bears defense in 2017 and had also interviewed for the team's head coaching job, and his assistants to stay. Quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone was the lone Fox offensive assistant to remain in Chicago. To fill the other openings, Nagy hired coaches with previous ties to him, including Childress as a senior offensive consultant through the 2018 offseason and training camp, former Chiefs assistant special teams coordinator Brock Olivo in the same position, Ginn and Eagles colleague Bill Shuey as quality control coaches, and ex-Dragons teammate Mike Furrey as wide receivers coach. In Nagy's first season as head coach, the Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2010. After defeating the Green Bay Packers