Chicago Cubs: This year’s Chicago Bears reminiscent of 2015 Cubs team

Chicago Cubs: Nagy emphasizing ‘BE YOU’ with his young team

Rick Renteria did nothing to get canned after the 2014 season. Pretty much all of the Cubs’ young heralded prospects were yet to make their long-awaited debuts and it showed. Chicago trotted out the likes of Arismendy Alcantara, Nate Schierholtz and Emilio Bonifacio on a regular basis.

We all know how that went.

So when the team had the chance to bring in Joe Maddon to work with a prospect core that ranked atop the game, it was a no-brainer. Chicago jumped and the former Tampa Bay skipper has averaged 97 wins annually since.

During his run, Maddon’s quirky mannerisms – soon dubbed Maddonisms – ran rampant on the North Side. He encouraged individuality and players being comfortable and playing the game their way – and it helped unlock the potential of guys like Javier Baez and Willson Contreras.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy follows a similar approach. On his play card every week, you can see ‘Be You’ on the sidelines. He’s allowing his group of young, talented players to do their thing – while playing hard and silencing the team’s critics.

So, here in the Windy City, we’re all holding our breaths. Can Nagy, Mack and Trubisky become the city’s next sweethearts? How about we just make 2019 the year of Chicago – with both a Super Bowl and World Series title?