Lovie Safe In Chicago

As you probably know by now the Chicago Bears relieved Ron Turner of his duties and Lovie Smith stepped down as de facto defensive coordinator. The Bears also gutted the offensive assistants.

Before we get into the Lovie debate, let's all breath a sigh of relief that Turner is finally out of Chicago.

Ahhhh



Now then...

I need to say that I was in favor of ousting Smith AND getting a proven, successful head coach. That's why it may surprise you that I am not (that) upset about the Bears' decision. My reasoning is that while I did want Lovie to go, I was not in favor of change for the sake of change. Is replacing Lovie with some young, inexperienced, cheap coach really better than keeping Smith around another year? Maybe, but I doubt it. Basically Lovie is here because while there are better coaches available, it wasn't likely the Bears would be able to get them.

Shanahan was all but married to the Bills (it is now official), Cowher is unlikely to return to coaching this year, Rivera wouldn't want to return to Chicago. That leaves fewer coaches that you could really hang your hat on available than most thought. I, for one, didn't have faith that the Bears would have been able to get a top tier coach this offseason so that leaves Smith as the top option; if you can't upgrade, change makes no sense.

We have to remember that Lovie has had a pretty good tenure in Chicago. He turned the franchise around, posting a .537 win percentage. The Bears qualified for the playoffs in back to back years under Lovie and a had Superbowl appearance. of course, he has been mediocre since the Superbowl loss.

There is another angle of this move that isn't being talked about. How can you bring in a new head coach and expect him to build a roster he is comfortable with if you have no draft picks. It makes sense to let Lovie and Angelo deal with the situation they have created. If they succeed, great. If they fail, get rid of them and let your new football minds have a real chance at building a team through the draft.

Bringing in two new coordinators not only brings about changes next season, it also provides an avenue for finding HC replacements. If Smith proves he still doesn't have it next season, the team will already have some familiarity with the new coordinators. If one of the new assistants proves himself worthy, he could find himself promoted to head coach.

My main complaint about keeping Smith is that it means the defensive scheme will not undergo an overhaul. It seems apparent if the scheme is not broken, the personnel are certainly not getting it done. Neither of those is likely to change dramatically next season. All we can do is hope the new coordinators can whip this group into shape or it will be a long season. In that case we will be discussing who will be our new head coach at this time next year.