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Lovie Says Angelo's Firing Wasn't a Surprise to Him.....................
Jerry Angelo's firing did not come as a surprise to Lovie Smith
Says business makes it impossible to be blindsided Brad Biggs
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Print This February 23, 2012, 12:56 PM EST
The removal of Jerry Angelo as the general manager of the Chicago Bears two days after the season ended with the franchise out of the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years did not come as a surprise to Lovie Smith.
Speaking for the first time since Angelo was ousted more than seven weeks ago, Smith said it’s the nature of the business in the NFL, meaning it’s difficult to be surprised with any moves that come, particularly at the end of a non-winning season.
“As far as surprised, I mean, we know in our profession what’s at stake always and changes can happen at any time,” Smith said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. “I’m here primarily because of what Jerry Angelo did for me, giving me an opportunity, leading the charge to give me the opportunity to be the head football coach here. I can’t necessarily say surprised at the end of the year, it’s not a surprise, I don’t think any coach or GM in the league is surprised about anything that happens, but again Jerry did an awful lot for us, but you move on and that’s what we’ve done.
“Jerry will be fine, he’s a lifetime friend but you do move on and as far as my involvement with the search, I was involved, of course I had a chance to meet with all the guys coming through and talk to them. I wanted them to see, as much as anything, have an idea of what I’m about, what I was trying to get accomplished as a head coach.”
Smith knows new general manager Phil Emery. When Smith was hired as head coach in January 2004, Emery was with the club as an area scout for a few months before leaving to become the college scouting director of the Atlanta Falcons.
Team president Ted Phillips mandated that the new general manager would have to work with Smith for the 2012 season. The coach’s contract runs through 2013.
“So it’s not like we’re new to each other,” Smith said. “Transition has gone on smoothly with him, we both share the same philosophy. Phil went through as thorough a search really from Ted Phillips and I can see why he ended up being our guy, even though there were a lot of other good candidates that we looked at, but we’re here right now.”
The move certainly puts Smith in a position where he needs to win. He says that is nothing new. “Every year I’ve been a head football coach and pretty much as a position coach, I felt like we had to win the next year or else,” he said. “There’s a standard that we’re going to try to get accomplished. That hasn’t changed at all. As far as more pressure, new GM having to keep me, I don’t think any of the guys looked at it that way. Hopefully they looked at it as a great situation they were coming into, a team that two years ago was in the NFC Championship game, a team that was 7-3 this past year before injuries happened. I don’t look at it that way.”
Follow me on Twitter: @BradBiggs
Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Anyone care to comment????? I'd say Lovie did a pretty fair job of protecting himself as much as he could with this hire.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Lovie's only question to the prospective GM's: "so,do you like smooth jazz?"
Arguing on the internet is like winning the special olympics, even if you win your still messed up.
Restore the roar!
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High Fives / Like - 3 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Sure, I'll comment. I haven't been around here long enough for my opinion of Lovie to be known, so I'll share this. I think there are a lot of fans that will support Lovie regardless of what he does, and I think there are a lot of fans that will hate on the guy regardless of what he does. I am neither. I give him accolaids when he does well, but I will also be critical when he deserves it. I find it funny when Chicago Sports media and some lemming fans attack Lovie for saying a lot of nothing. This is 2012 and there are more media outlets than you can count, so I always wonder what they expect him to say. While there are times that I think we could do far better for a coach of the beloved, I will never criticize him for speeking diplomatically as he did above. If he utters anything that can be even remotely considered controversial, then it will be plastered all over every print and internet media you can find and the audio clip will be played in every radio segment intro. He is not alone as most professional coaches and GM's have learned this over the years. I have no problems with what he said here, but I really don't think there is much of a story either.
The Greatest form of revenge is MASSIVE success.
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High Fives / Like - 4 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
4DaBERS 
Sure, I'll comment. I haven't been around here long enough for my opinion of Lovie to be known, so I'll share this. I think there are a lot of fans that will support Lovie regardless of what he does, and I think there are a lot of fans that will hate on the guy regardless of what he does. I am neither. I give him accolaids when he does well, but I will also be critical when he deserves it. I find it funny when Chicago Sports media and some lemming fans attack Lovie for saying a lot of nothing. This is 2012 and there are more media outlets than you can count, so I always wonder what they expect him to say. While there are times that I think we could do far better for a coach of the beloved, I will never criticize him for speeking diplomatically as he did above. If he utters anything that can be even remotely considered controversial, then it will be plastered all over every print and internet media you can find and the audio clip will be played in every radio segment intro. He is not alone as most professional coaches and GM's have learned this over the years. I have no problems with what he said here, but I really don't think there is much of a story either.
Nor do I but you know the old story about the press. It's either tell me something or I'll start a rumor or make something up because I have a column to write. The Trib guys like Biggs and Haugh do that at times. All Lovie says is that it never surprises him and few others when a coach or GM is fired after a disappointing season but the headline makes it sound like Lovie knew it all along. But I guess it does make people read the article and guys like me post it to get others opinions, LOL.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Originally Posted by
soulman Nor do I but you know the old story about the press. It's either tell me something or I'll start a rumor or make something up because I have a column to write. The Trib guys like Biggs and Haugh do that at times. All Lovie says is that it never surprises him and few others when a coach or GM is fired after a disappointing season but the headline makes it sound like Lovie knew it all along. But I guess it does make people read the article and guys like me post it to get others opinions, LOL.
Hit the nail on the head bruh.
The Greatest form of revenge is MASSIVE success.
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Member
Who will be surprised when lovie is fired?
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Originally Posted by
VJ18 Who will be surprised when lovie is fired?
If the Bears have a good season (playoffs) I'll be surprised if he gets fired.
"Give 100%. 110% is impossible. Only idiots recommend that." - Ron Swanson
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I will be surprised whenever Lovie gets canned because we have had four opportunities to do that now in the past five years, and Jerry Angelo nor Ted Phillips didn't bite. We finished with no better than a 9-7 record in every season since 2007 with the exception of the 2010 season, yet Lovie Smith kept his job. I don't know whether the market for head coaches was remarkably thin or what, but he could have been easily fired after '07, '08, '09, and '11, but he wasn't. So it will be interesting to see what Phil Emery does the first time Lovie puts up a subpar season under his watch. I think it will be very telling if he holds Lovie accountable or if he feels somehow bound to him in some way because Emery was given kudos by Lovie to Ted Phillips and George McCaskey.
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Depends : if a GM has a long history with the head coach he hired - long leash.
If not - short leash.
What should you call any : Fumble , Hold , Interception , Three and out , or Sack ?
A " F.H.I.T.S " ? or a J'Marcus ?
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