Face it: Bears stuck with Smith
In the haste to draw conclusions about Lovie Smith’s job status, let me be the first to tell Bears fans frothing at the mouth what they want to hear.
Smith is going to be fired.
Eventually.
The Bears once fired Mike Ditka. The Cowboys fired Tom Landry, Smith’s idol. It’s inevitable. It’s the NFL.
It’s also not likely to happen soon, no matter how much blood you smell in the water around the Bears’ sinking ship.
Besides the $11 million owed for the final two seasons on Smith’s contract after this one, it likely would cost the Bears $40 million over five years to hire the next big-name coach. Do you really think any of the football czars being fantasized about would work for less?
History says the McCaskeys just aren’t the type of owners to commit $50 million to a head coaching position, no matter how raucous the public cry becomes. In this economy, can you envision a family business paying two head coaches an average of $13.5 million apiece for two seasons?
Besides, most of the dream scenarios about dumping Smith since Sunday’s 41-21 embarrassment overlook one key aspect: the presence of Jerry Angelo.
The notion of firing both Smith and Angelo at the end of the season seems irrational and unrealistic considering they have a combined six years remaining on their contracts – Angelo’s deal runs through 2013.
Let’s play out the scenario like every Lovie critic has in his throbbing head since Sunday. If Smith goes at the end of the season and Angelo stays, the Bears will have a hard time luring any of the big fish to Chicago.
Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren all will want power Angelo will be unwilling to cede. As long as Angelo and his influence inhabit Halas Hall, it would be difficult even to get one of those prospective coaches in the door for an interview.
If the Bears aren’t sure how any of those powerful men would work with Angelo, and vice versa, then it’s not something worth considering.
Like a lawyer in court, don’t ask an important question if you don’t know the answer.
And if the Bears had to settle for replacing Smith with just another hot NFL coordinator Angelo could control instead of any of the available marquee coaches, what’s the use in eating $11 million?
When contemplating Smith’s future replacement, whenever that search begins, remember the words from Angelo himself when he hired Smith on Jan. 15, 2004.
“The next autopsy will be mine,” he said. “If I did this wrongly, don’t worry about me coming back here.”
Translated six seasons later, that means the futures of Angelo and Smith remain intertwined. Except for some odd comments two weeks ago in which Angelo publicly questioned the coaching staff, the two have worked in lock-step philosophically.
As understandable as local anti-Bears venom is, it’s still hard to envision Angelo firing Smith. It’s even harder to envision Angelo hiring a replacement with more NFL clout and coexisting with that person.
Back to reality, if Smith receives a playoffs-or-else mandate at the end of this season as he should, the same should go for Angelo. Team President Ted Phillips should be the one issuing the ultimatum.
Phillips has a contract that runs through 2013 but probably has a job for life with the Bears, whatever title he holds. He always will be known as the guy the McCaskeys had smooth over the rough edges for the Soldier Field expansion project that modernized the Bears’ revenue growth.
If Phillips still trusts the two most powerful football people on the payroll in January, then he should challenge them to consider offseason alternatives to reverse the trend of mediocrity.
Talent is as big an issue as coaching.
Have there been enough recent misses in the draft to merit a scouting overhaul? Should Ron Turner be the sacrificial lamb for ‘09 due to his expiring contract? Is it time that Smith follows the lead of the Packers and changes defensive schemes?
The Bears are 4-4, not 1-7. They aren’t the Lions and need to stop acting like them. They need to win some games to win back some respect.
If something rash needs to be done to make a statement about accountability, fine, suspend or cut Tommie Harris for chronic immaturity. Bench another offensive lineman. Plan a full-contact practice for Saturday that will be canceled only if the Bears win. Institute hefty fines for dumb penalties. Show some leadership.
Do something, anything, to react to the worst Bears crisis in the Lovie Smith Era.
One day that era will end, and many Bears fans will rejoice. But, realistically, Chicago still can expect that day to come later rather than sooner.
