A decade ago, Nagy and the Chiefs saw that in Mahomes.
Nagy was the offensive coordinator during Mahomes' rookie season, when the future three-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP started just one game.
Dart carries 12 games of starting experience over to his sophomore campaign.
"Well, it's going to start off by building off the confidence he has from last year," Nagy said. "He was able to really put together a good year as a rookie. You want to grow from that. So it's our job as coaches to make sure we see what he did well, but then we're also going to make sure we're staying locked in on him improving on certain areas. We see things on tape as we go through it, but now we've got to get out here and as we build this offense, give him places and areas to grow."
That list will not include his intangibles.
"The one thing I love about Jaxson is Jaxson wants to be the best," Nagy said. "He really does. When you have that, that's half the battle. He's a connector himself. Just seeing and hearing from other coaches how much he's connected with his teammates last year, that's awesome."
On the topic of connections, it's not fair to make any between his former and current quarterback.
"He's Jaxson Dart; he's not Patrick Mahomes," Nagy said. "I was able to be fortunate enough to be around Patrick for many years, and I saw Patrick as a rookie, and I got to see him when I came back from Chicago four years in. I got to see four more years of him as a vet. But we can use that for more, like, routines and maybe how we did things, but the one thing that I know – first of all, I know how much respect that Jaxson has for Patrick. We've talked a little bit about the process and what he's been through, but we've also made it clear, you have to be Jaxson Dart. He's going to do that."
As part of John Harabugh's inaugural staff, Nagy said it's the coaches' job to insulate Dart and give him direction, while also taking feedback from the future of the franchise.
"We're going to be really intentional on how we do that," said Nagy, the 2018 AP NFL Coach of the Year. "You look at [passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach] Brian Callahan. He's been around a lot of great quarterbacks too, and he's in a room with them now. He's seen Peyton Manning to Matthew Stafford to Joe Burrow. That's valuable. That's really valuable."
Nagy would also be remiss if he didn't mention the veteran in the room, former No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston.
"Just today being with him and having a couple of off-the-field, private conversations with him just to learn who he is – really, really impressed with him too," Nagy said on the first day of the offseason workout program. "It's a healthy quarterback room. Just really looking forward to what that recipe looks like to help build those guys."