Lovie Smith

Head coach from 2004 to 2012 who led the Bears to Super Bowl XLI.

Lovie Smith (born 1958) is an American football coach who was head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2004 through 2012 and took the team to Super Bowl XLI after the 2006 season. He has also been head coach of Tampa Bay, Houston and the University of Illinois.

Quick Facts

Born: 8 May 1958
Birthplace: Gladewater, Texas, U.S.
High school: Big Sandy (TX)
College: Tulsa
Highlights: NFL Coach of the Year (2005); 2× Second-team All-American (1978, 1979)

Facts from the source article.

Background

Hired in 2004 to replace Dick Jauron, Smith announced three goals: beat Green Bay, win the NFC North and win a Super Bowl. His first team went 5-11 after Rex Grossman's knee injury, but in 2005, with Grossman hurt again, he and coordinator Ron Rivera built a dominant defense around rookie Kyle Orton's steady play and went 11-5 after a 1-3 start, earning Smith the AP Coach of the Year award.

He was criticised in 2006 for trading the first-round pick and for sticking with Grossman, answering questions with the line that Rex was his quarterback. The Bears finished 2006 at 13-3 and took the NFC's top playoff seed. Smith led the team to a 27-24 overtime victory over the defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round, the first playoff win of his career, and then to a 39-14 win over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game. That made Smith the first Black head coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl; hours later his good friend and mentor Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts became the second. The Bears lost Super Bowl XLI 29-17. The lowest-paid coach in the league at $1.35 million, he then signed a four-year, $22 million deal.

The quarterback carousel of Grossman, Brian Griese and Orton produced a 7-9 finish in 2007, and after 2008 Smith took over defensive play-calling himself. General manager Jerry Angelo traded Orton and three picks for Jay Cutler in 2009. Smith was dismissed on December 31, 2012, despite a 10-6 record. Earlier he had helped Dungy develop the Tampa 2 defense in Tampa Bay and coordinated the St. Louis Rams defense that reached Super Bowl XXXVI.

Did You Know?

Smith's 1975 Big Sandy high school team allowed only 15 points all season and scored a then-national record 824.
At $1.35 million in 2006, Smith was the lowest-paid head coach in the NFL the year he reached the Super Bowl.