Friends Nagy, Reich square off in Colts vs. Bears, while Foles faces coach who 'figured me out'

Bears coach Matt Nagy used to take his kids Easter egg hunting with Colts general manager Chris Ballard and his kids. Colts coach Frank Reich wrote the foreword to Bears quarterback Nick Foles' book.

Sunday's game between the Bears and the Colts features some key contributors who are very familiar with each other.

Nagy interviewed for head coaching jobs with two teams prior to the 2018 season: the Bears and the Colts. Nagy took the Bears job and Reich took the Colts job. Nagy previously coached quarterbacks at Cedar Crest High School in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in the early 2000s, which is where Reich went to school two decades earlier.

"The last 10 years, we've gotten to know each other more at different functions," Nagy said. "And we stay close. We'll text during the season and during the offseason. We like golf. I just have a lot of respect for him. I think what's cool about Frank Reich is, he really does things his way, which I appreciate. I know his players love him. He's a good human being."

Reich was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the latter of which was when Foles took over the starting job on the way to a Super Bowl victory.

"He was the one who really figured me out as a player and realized that we had it all wrong," Foles said of Reich. "And they just threw some plays out there one day and said just go play these plays."

Reich called Foles a "stud" this week.

Foles said Reich trusted him as a player. Foles is, by all accounts, over-communicative on the sidelines. Even as Mitch Trubisky's backup, Foles was vocal. He wants to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Reich, on the other hand, was a man of few words.

"At first, it was sort of weird because you're not used to a coach doing that," Foles said. "He was like, 'I trust you, just go do your thing.'"

That trust paid off in the form of a Super Bowl title for the Eagles and a Super Bowl MVP trophy for Foles. Now they will square off from opposite sidelines in Foles' first start for the Chicago Bears.

"He cared more about the person than the player," Foles said. "And that says a lot about him and that's why I have all the respect in the world. Anyone who has played for Frank would probably say the same thing. I know that when he went to Indianapolis from Philly we were all sad to see him go, but happy for his opportunity to be a head coach because we knew he deserved it."

Reich and Nagy both come from the Doug Peterson coaching tree in Philadelphia. Nagy left Philly in 2013 to take a job with the Kansas City Chiefs, where Ballard, the Colts GM, was then in the front office. Ballard, who scouted for the Bears for 10 years, moved up to the Chiefs director of football operations prior to taking the GM job in Indianapolis in 2017.

Nagy said his eldest son and Ballard's eldest son were good friends in Kansas City, and have kept in touch.

"Our families are close," Nagy said. "We were always spending Easters together - the Easter egg hunts in Kansas City. A lot of respect for them as people, and for Chris as a general manager."

They will all be reunited Sunday at Soldier Field.