Heading into the weekend of week 17, I had a Twitter exchange with Da Bears Blog wherein he indicated he did not believe Smith’s job was in jeopardy, regardless of whether Chicago won or lost in week 17 against Detroit.

The Bears went on to win the game, but Smith was fired regardless of the 10-6 record posted by the Bears. I thought there was a decent chance Smith’s job was on the line but guessed that he would not be canned if the team finished 10-6, even if it missed the playoffs.

We both were wrong, but looking at some of the candidates teams are looking at right now, I’m starting to think Da Bears Blog should have been right.

The Chicago Tribune reported today that the Bears have a list of 12 potential candidates they might interview. AND they aren’t letting their assistant coaches interview anywhere else because they might want to retain guys like Rod Marinelli and Jeremy Bates, respectively the defensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

So, wait a minute. The Bears finish 10-6 under a guy who took the team to a Super Bowl and an NFC Championship game over the last several years … AND THE PLAN FOR REPLACING HIM IS INTERVIEW EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER BEEN ON THE SIDELINES AT A FOOTBALL GAME?

The candidates apparently include:

  • Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman
  • Former Bears linebacker and failed 49ers head man Mike Singletary, most recently a special assistant for the Vikings
  • Seahawks coordinator Darrell Bevell
  • Texans coordinator Rick Dennison
  • Packers coordinator Tom Clements
  • Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer
  • Colts coordinator Bruce Arians
  • My mom
  • Your dog
  • The feral cat wandering around the neighborhood.

Let me get this straight … Lovie Smith was not without flaws. But in nine seasons, he went 81-63 with the aforementioned successes. You fire him after a 10-6 season. And YOU DON’T HAVE A CONCRETE PLAN IN PLACE FOR A SUCCESSOR? And this is a guy who led an 11-5 team in 2010 and the 2011 Bears at 7-3 before losing Jay Cutler to a season ending injury and falling to 8-8. Regardless of those flaws, that’s a pretty good run. I’d take that guy as the head coach on my team over the unknowns on that previous list.

There’s a dramatic dearth of decent candidates out there already. Look at some of the guys who have already gotten hired. Look at some of the guys who have gotten interviews. Look at some of the guys who keep getting recycled year in and year out.

  • Doug Marrone was hired by Buffalo after posting a 25-25 record at Syracuse.
  • Andy Reid had a job in Kansas City mere days after being fired by Philadelphia after underachieving his final two years there.
  • Chip Kelly is staying at Oregon.
  • Ken Whisenhunt was interviewing for jobs just hours after being let go in Arizona.
  • Ray Rhodes was mentioned as a candidate somewhere.
  • There seems to be little indication that Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden or any number of the established retired guys are interested in heading back to the sidelines.

Guys like Arians at Indianapolis, Mike McCoy in Denver and Ray Horton in Arizona have certainly earned the right to interview for promotions. Whisenhunt took Arizona to a Super Bowl so he probably deserves another shot as a head guy somewhere, if not this year then soon.

But how many of the guys the Bears are looking at do you have any confidence are going to be better than what Smith has brought to the table for nine years? Singletary? His tenure in San Francisco was a disaster. Trestman? He was a regular candidate years ago, but you have to figure he wasn’t hired for a reason. And he hasn’t even been coaching in the states for several years.

If a team like Chicago, which has a good defense and some talent on offense that could turn into something special if the quarterback wasn’t eating dirt every other time he dropped back, is going to fire a head coach that, again, took the Bears to the Super Bowl and an NFC Championship game and to levels of competitiveness the team has not experienced in awhile, it better have a better plan in place for replacing him.

The Bears just seem to be roaming the wilderness hoping the right guy falls in their lap.

One of the best interviews on local sports radio here in Minneapolis is on ESPN-1500 AM each week when Judd Zulgad interviews Eric Edholm from Pro Football Weekly. This week, among other things, the duo touched on Smith’s firing and on the dearth of quality candidates out there to replace him.

Edholm indicated that the city never embraced Smith, despite his success, because he was quiet and reserved. They want someone like Mike Ditka, he says.

McCoy isn’t like that. Bevell isn’t that. Does that present a problem as the Bears look for Smith’s successor? Those guys are more in the mold of general manager Phil Emery, Edholm argues.

McCoy and Bevell may be great guys and they might end up being great head coaches as well. But it’s just as likely they never achieve the levels of success Smith reached.

Given the shortage of truly great candidates out there, if this is the best plan the Bears can come up with for replacing Smith, this team probably would have been better off standing pat in the first place.

Should the Bears have fired Lovie Smith?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...