-
Bears Extend Lovie through 2013
In the mood for Lovie
By TOM MUSICK - tmusick@nwherald.com
The coach from Big Sandy, Texas, could be gearing up to cash another big check.
The Bears’ top priority heading into an uncertain offseason will be to extend the contract of coach Lovie Smith, whose current deal is set to expire after the 2011 season.
That might prompt debate among those who have ripped Smith for his in-game decisions and his low-key demeanor, but there is no debate at Halas Hall about Smith’s value.
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo made that clear after Smith’s team went 11-5 in the regular season and advanced to the NFC Championship Game before losing, 21-14, to the Green Bay Packers. It was Smith’s second conference title game in the past five years.
“We very much want to extend Lovie [for] the job he has done and his staff,” said Angelo, whose contract as general manager expires after the 2013 season. “Our intent is to extend Lovie. … That will be part of the business at hand in these next several weeks.”
But how many years – and how many millions – will it require to extend Smith?
Four years ago, Smith was at the peak of his profession. He had won his second division title and led the Bears to Super Bowl XLI on the strength of his “Tampa 2” defense.
The Indianapolis Colts beat the Bears in the Super Bowl, but Smith’s job was secure. Less than a month after the Super Bowl, the Bears signed Smith to a four-year extension for about $5 million a season, which made him one of the league’s highest-paid coaches.
A three-year playoff drought put Smith’s job in jeopardy.
A well-timed resurgence led Smith back toward the jackpot.
The Bears’ coach notoriously is tight-lipped in the news media, and the odds of him discussing a contract extension are about as good as the odds of him becoming a backup dancer. Yet the Bears offer one of the elite coaching jobs in the NFL, and it’s clear Smith wants to stay.
“I love being the head football coach of the Chicago Bears every day I’ve been here,” Smith said after the NFC title game.
“And [I] hope to be there for many years to come.”
It’s tough to say how many years that might include.
One option is for the Bears to extend Smith’s contract through 2013, which would put him on the same track as Angelo. But Smith might seek at least to match his previous extension of four years, which would keep him under contract through 2015 or longer.
Regardless, Smith won’t come cheap.
A recent report by Forbes named New England’s Bill Belichick as the NFL’s highest-paid coach with a salary of more than $7 million a year. The Washington Redskins signed Mike Shanahan last season to a five-year deal worth $7 million a year, while the Seattle Seahawks lured Pete Carroll away from USC with a five-year deal worth about $6.6 million a season.
Lower-profile coaches such as Jacksonville’s Jack Del Rio (five years, $25 million) and Arizona’s Ken Whisenhunt (four years, $24 million) also made the Forbes report.
Smith, 52, has averaged nine wins a season since the Bears hired him in 2004. That puts him ahead of Carroll, Del Rio and Whisenhunt, and he could seek to be paid accordingly.
That would be fine by Smith’s players, who praised him for the Bears’ quick turnaround.
“I give him a huge amount of credit,” said Bears cornerback Charles Tillman, who echoed his teammates’ sentiments. “I don’t think anyone gave us a chance but the people in this building. We believed in ourselves. He believed in us more than anybody.”
Bears bits: The Bears named Mike Phair as their new defensive line coach Thursday. Phair, who spent last season as a defensive assistant with the Seahawks, replaced former defensive line coach Eric Washington, who took the same job with the Carolina Panthers.
-
-
Resigning Lovie will be a HUGE mistake. He does not have what it takes to win a SuperBowl.
3nagurski
"...Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue...."
-
High Fives / Like - 3 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
Originally Posted by
3nagurski 
Resigning Lovie will be a HUGE mistake. He does not have what it takes to win a SuperBowl.
3nagurski
Well as you were also "sure" lovie in 2010 didn't even have what it takes to be a 8-8 team, and we would all be dissapointed when bears go 5-11 or worse( and start 1-5) with lovie guiding the team- i'd say maybe, just maybe your prognonisis is slightly off on what it takes... Just saying
-
Originally Posted by
dabears54 Well as you were also "sure" lovie in 2010 didn't even have what it takes to be a 8-8 team, and we would all be dissapointed when bears go 5-11 or worse( and start 1-5) with lovie guiding the team- i'd say maybe, just maybe your prognonisis is slightly off on what it takes... Just saying
Wow, I guess if you say every year that the Bears will be great, EVENTUALLY you will be right.
Keep trying...
3nagurski
"...Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue...."
-
High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
Originally Posted by
3nagurski Wow, I guess if you say every year that the Bears will be great, EVENTUALLY you will be right.
Keep trying...
3nagurski
-
No need to try, said bears would go 11-5 in 2010 and they did met what I expected of them 31 other teams will also not win the SB each year, Despite you whining all preseason/season and now -that it will never happen and how bad the team sucks, blah blah blah only to show here after a bear loss and dissapear when bears win . Much rather enjoy the ride, than say the ride will Suck,tell others how bad it will suck, be on it and still talking about how bad it sucks, only after say "well guess it didnt".. to each his own.
-
I agree with 3Nag....
With our talent we should be doing more.
I mean we have how many coaches on our staff that have been a head coach?
Our problem is from a couple of things in my opinion:
1) Lovie has no emotions (isn't that a must for being a Bears HC?)
2) Lovie never adapts his game plan
3) Is Lovie meddling with the defensive scheme? Who do you blame for the CBs playing 10 yards off every play? The CBs have done this over the past three DCs..
4) Lovie is running this team like a business. You either want to win, or you don't. How many people are sold he loves the game after his press conferences? Even bill belichick shoots straight when he gets his butt kicks. He doesn't yell much. However he DOES call it like it is.
5) Lovie NEVER calls it like it is. If we got our asses kicked, say it. Look at Tomlin's post game comments right after the game... How do you feel about this loss? Mike Tomlin "It's a loss. We don't grade on a curve. We lost!!"...
Is it proper to have a HC that strictly uses the players to motivate themselves?
Bottom line, Lovie is more like a friend to the players than a Head Coach. A good Head Coach can be both. A friend only usually gets fired..
From the guy running the Chicago Bears:
"There aren't any teams that win year-after-year-after-year."-- Ted Phillips
-
High Fives / Like - 3 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
Originally Posted by
dabears54 -
No need to try, said bears would go 11-5 in 2010 and they did met what I expected of them 31 other teams will also not win the SB each year, Despite you whining all preseason/season and now -that it will never happen and how bad the team sucks, blah blah blah only to show here after a bear loss and dissapear when bears win . Much rather enjoy the ride, than say the ride will Suck,tell others how bad it will suck, be on it and still talking about how bad it sucks, only after say "well guess it didnt".. to each his own.
A record does not define how good a team is. We got our asses handed to us badly against teams that were considered decent. When we played good teams we lost. Look at the Giants game? How about NE? I could throw out many games where we squeaked by and won. So saying we went 11-5, we had a successful season is like saying we don't have to change a thing in order to win the SB next year.
We were inconsistent, and we have many issues. Consider our talent we should have beat GB both times.
From the guy running the Chicago Bears:
"There aren't any teams that win year-after-year-after-year."-- Ted Phillips
-
High Fives / Like - 1 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
Originally Posted by
DaBearski A record does not define how good a team is. We got our asses handed to us badly against teams that were considered decent. When we played good teams we lost. Look at the Giants game? How about NE? I could throw out many games where we squeaked by and won. So saying we went 11-5, we had a successful season is like saying we don't have to change a thing in order to win the SB next year.
We were inconsistent, and we have many issues. Consider our talent we should have beat GB both times.
guess we shall agree to disagree about this.
i thought we beat the packers , jets and eagles in 2010 and most will say they were good teams.. oh well
And even in the other 2 games we lost to the packers both came down to a last second chance to win, so i'd hardly call that 'gettign your ass handed to you". esp the playoff game with a 3rd string qb playing and rodger's reeling to a postively rex grossman like 55 qb rating with no td's and 2 INT's.. but again to each his own and people only see what they want, and ignore all to the point where they think we " When we played good teams we lost.".. Yes, the NE was the only beatdown, and the Giants game was 3-0 at 1/2 time, hardly a game out fo reach, and more about collins and no cutler than the team IMO
Do we have problems? OF COURSE!( oline, Wr's and Cb's) but so do all 32 teams, how we adress these problems will tell which way we go in 2011, but the idea of "we suck and can't win a SB" going foward when 29 yards from the SB this year kinda silly IMO
Guess tired that even after we went 11-5, it seems some re still insisting this is a 4-12 team that isn't any good. i just do not get it.. is it the "best"? obviously not, but it sure isn't the 'worst', or a team that can't beat good teams, just do not understand how despite being in the NFC championship game, still seems some are insisting we are not good or can't be good going forward.. don't know what to say anymore
Last edited by dabears54; 02-07-2011 at 10:49 AM.
-
One can only make the statement that game scores don't always paint the picture of the actual tempo of the game.
Yeah we may not look bad on paper, but on the field we lucked our way to some of the wins.
We played sluggish in most of our wins.
Green Bay can move the ball down the field. The only way we stop them is when they drop the ball.
Are we able to move the ball like GB? Yes, but how many games have we moved down the field freely???
Again, the scores, and stats don't paint the proper pictures/tempo of the game.
From the guy running the Chicago Bears:
"There aren't any teams that win year-after-year-after-year."-- Ted Phillips
-
High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
Green Bay can move the ball down the field. The only way we stop them is when they drop the ball.
that is really wrong and we stopped them all 3 games many times with very good "D" and not drops, sorry, its ok to admit this and actually give the Team you root for some credit
Again, the scores, and stats don't paint the proper pictures/tempo of the game.
well if the scores or stats don't matter, or wins.. not sure what will.. guess no matter what even when win, you will still not be pleased, so no use debating or discussing something already decided and scores or stats do not matter, so guess from that perspective we will always be a 4-12 crappy team even when go to the NFC champ game and go 12-5 because scores don't matter...
BTW since scores and stats don't matter, can't we also say we are the best team in league, as stats and scores don't matter? or would that be different?.. and opinion then doesn't count?
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
