Euthanasia
by axthelm on Dec 20, 2009 4:18 AM CST
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PrintIf the McCaskey’s really liked and cared about Lovie Smith (and I believe that they do) they would do the only humane thing possible January 4th, 2010:
They’d FIRE his ASS!
Why?
Actually it’s quite simple:
A) Lovie has lost this team.
B) In the past 30 years. 94% of the head coaches who have won the Super Bowl did it in five years or less. Next season will be Lovie’s seventh in the Windy City. I just don’t see Lovie as a 6%’er. If (and that’s a big IF concerning the McCaskeys) the goal is to win the Super Bowl, Lovie is bucking some major odds here.
C) The Bears would be doing Lovie a BIG, BIG favor by canning him.
Tell him "Lovie, here’s a check for 11 million. Take a much needed break from the pressure. Take the wife and kids to Disneyland. Travel the world. Go golfing. Maybe do some TV. Do whatever you want. Get off the treadmill and relax. You deserve it."
You’ve been a loyal soldier. Now take some time off and recharge your batteries.
D) The Bears, right now and for the immediate future are clearly only the 3rd best team in their division. Brett Favre is coming back next year. So too the hated Packers. Thank God for Detroit (but they’re not too far behind us at this point - actually where are closer to the Lions regarding wins and losses than we are to either GB or Minnesota).
In summary, Lovie will be the lamest of lame ducks next season and he’ll be looking up at two teams in his division. Add to that equation the fact that the Bears are without both their 1st and 2nd round draft choices next year and the sad reality is this: It would almost take a miracle for Lovie and his staff to challenge Minnesota and GB for the NFC North next season.
If you really cared about Lovie you would NOT (I repeat NOT) put him through this next season. 2010 is almost certainly a disaster waiting to happen under these circumstances.
And if/when they fall short early on, things are gonna get REAL ugly around Halas Hall and throught Chicagoland and beyond.
BTW: All this talk about what a great head coach/ general manager Mike Holmgren was with the Seattle Seahawks?
Not really. He was 86-74 in his ten seasons there (nothing wrong with that). However (and fortunately for Holmgren) he was in a division with three teams (St. Louis, Arizona and SF) who struggled mightily for most of that decade (the Rams since 2003, the 49ers since 2002 and the Cardinals all the way up until 2008).
Lovie and the Bears don’t have that luxury. The Vikings and Packers are both quality teams who aren’t going away anytime soon (sad to say). It’s time to ‘retool’ in Chicago. It’s time to put Lovie out of his misery and start over. In today’s NFL, the right head coach/staff, coupled with some intelligent free agent signings and draft picks are all that is needed to turn things around pretty quickly.
That time is just around the corner (January 4th, 2010)!
After all, it's really just the humane thing to do here.
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+1 brother...
You and I may not agree on everything, but here is where we do:
A) Lovie has lost this team.
That alone is irretrievable and beyond repair. No new OC can fix the fact that the team ethos is is confused disbelief. For his sake, it cannot be healthy any longer for Lovie either. In this case, Lovie staying on next season would be counterproductive for the ENTIRE organization. Cut the cord, take the old dog to the pound, or (whatever other cliche you can think of) because next season will be here all too soon and the time to start fixin’ cannot begin soon enough.
When you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!!!
Right
Sacrificing the OC is like using a band-aid after a chain saw accident.
Beyond the football side of it (where we agree that Lovie’s lost the team) is the perception side of it.
When the Bears struggle next season and most certainly end up behind either Minnesot or GB or both, it will be much easier to take with a new coaching staff.
At least a new staff (hopefully) provides some much needed hope for the future.
If they retain Lovie next season, at the first sign of incompetance, people will be saying this: “Why is this guy (Lovie) STILL here?”
Mike Ditka took over a 6-10 team from Neill Armstrong and promptly went 3-6 (in the strike shortened season of 1982).
And most (knowledgable) Bears fans couldn’t have been happier (even though they regressed record-wise).
That’s because they knew (and had started to see) that Ditka was going to change the personality/attitude of his new team, and that first involved a step a season or two of getting rid of the trash and bringing in the right kind of players (those who wanted to WIN, and not just pick up a paycheck).
Change of Scenery. Breath of Fresh Air
Call it what you will.
The Bears desperately need that next year. Of this there should be no debate.
The fact that there is a debate tells us all we need to know about the McCaskey family and their ability to run a football team.
These are the Chicago f’ing Bears. One of the most storied franchises in the long history of the NFL.
The Monsters of the Midway. The team (1985) that is almost universally regarded as the single greatest team in NFL history.
The team of Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton amongst many others.
The team with the most HOF’ers ever in the NFL.
Good God. This is pathetic.
We are actually debating whether Lovie will be back, as if this guy is the best that we could do going forward.
Unbelievable.
Youth in Asia?
Don’t see what little kids over across the pacific have to do with th— oh, gotcha.
But how about this. You’re a coachless NFL team (possibly missing a few coordinators and coaches too). You have two good and improving teams in the division and the Detroit Lions. You don’t have your first and second round picks in the NFL draft and a team that has (a legit chance at) a 6-10 record, plus a GM in Jerry Angelo that has had a very hit-miss track record with FA signings and more often than not hasn’t nailed his draft picks, and could very well be a lame duck himself. How do you convince ANY coach to walk into this situation, much less one of your potential HOFers (if still available) and turn it around considering the pieces that are still missing? As much as he should be gone, couldn’t you just ride next year out with Lovie, eat the year with the missing picks and such, attempt to repair what you can, and make the job more appealing when you can open it without eating money in 2011?
I’m in the fire Lovie camp too, but what says next year is better off without him if everything else isn’t as likely to improve?
by Steven Schweickert on Dec 20, 2009 6:42 PM CST reply actions
The situation is this:
These are the Chicago Bears. One of the storied franchises in the NFL that play in one of the greatest cities in the US.. They are not the Lions, Bucs, Bengals etc.
There will always be guys that want to coach here.
My preference is for a younger type of coach who (unlike guys like Wannstedt, Jauron and Lovie) AREN’T known for being ‘awfully nice guys.’
I want someone to come in and ‘shake things up.’
Shake up the complacency on this team.
That’s exactly whay Mike Ditka did in 1982. Many questioned his hiring based on his credentials.
He took over a team that was 30-34 under Neill Armstrong (in a similar vein the Bears are now 21-24 under Lovie since their Super Bowl appearance)
All Ditka did was start cleaning house and (along with Buddy Ryan) started putting some teeth back into the Monsters of the Midway.
Ditka’s players played with a mean streak and a nasty attitude (reminiscent of a certain Mike Ditka himself).
Mike Singletary has started that same process in SF.
I don’t care if the guy has played the game himself at the NFL level (like Ditka & Singletary) or not (like Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson for example).
Someone new. Someone that is much more demanding of these players than a nice guy like Lovie Smith.
Sorta like the ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’ thing.
They’ve had the good cop. Now it’s time for the bad cop.
There will be more draft choices and free agents in the near future. The reason coaches will want this job is beacuse they usually get a three – four year contract. They know they have some time to turn it around. Nobody would take the job if they only had next year to make it work. But they will have three – four years to turn it around.
Most importantly after the season eds is to find the right person to lead the current players and the players that will be here in the future.
And that ain’t Lovie Smith.
Big problem(s)
As you mentioned no draft picks until the second day of the draft. If Lovie is canned, a new defensive scheme will be brought in that doesn’t fit with the current personnel. This is why I believe he’ll be brought back as a lame-duck coach, and ’11 will be the year a new regime is brought in.
"But it doesn't matter what I do, what I choose. I'm what's wrong. This is fate" - final words of Dexter season 4...I mean Lovie season 6.
good point
It’s only 2 picks though. We’re talking about likely a 4 year deal. Besides, this year it doesn’t even look like we have the personnel for Lovie’s scheme.
"Why does Jay Cutler look so bad running these awful plays behind an incompetent offensive line?" - VeryFakeAlDavis
Very true
If JA decides to make a move, it may not matter cause he may decide to help fill the void through free-agency.
"But it doesn't matter what I do, what I choose. I'm what's wrong. This is fate" - Dexter season 4....I mean Lovie season 6.
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