Time for Lovie Smith to go bye bye!

[Mike Clark]

I have thought this for awhile now and I try very hard to be a patient person, to no avail most of the time. But I have had enough of this crap. This dominant defense of his is BS. The only time this defense was any good was when Ron Rivera was the defensive coordinator. The offense is alot better then anyone, other than maybe Ron Turner, thought it would be. They have had a lead in the 4th quarter in all 3 games that they have lost. I might be a very old school football minded fan, but to have blown 3 4th quarter leads from a supposedly great defense is BS. All of the blame, imo , has to go to Lovie, what a stupid name. He got Ron Rivera fired. He would not allow Mike Singletary to even be part of this team. All because he was afraid to lose his job to both of them.

I think it is time to fire Lovie and bring in a real Defensive Head coach. I think we are fine with Ron Turner. He had a good Offense before, which got him his job a U of I, and i do not think he has any desire to be an NFL head coach. I truly believe that he was held back by the lack of talent and having to play Rex. This offense is really starting to come around and this stupid defense can not do anything to keep a lead. How pathetic!

[Jon Brakel]

Ron Turner? Really? OK, I've stopped laughing now. The defense did do its job. The offense took a while to get going but Orton put in a great performance in that last offensive drive for the go ahead touchdown. Without a couple of key mistakes in the beginning of the game, the Bears would have led that game the whole way and it never would have been a contest. It came down to special teams and the Bears usually good special teams let them down.

Smith is a good coach, I think. Turner is an ass, I'm pretty sure. After interviewing for like a half dozen head coach jobs and getting passed over for all of them, Rivera's contract ran out after he was insisting on like a 33 percent raise. You're dreaming if you think you're going to get a 33 percent raise from the McCaskey's. It's not firing him if his contract was done. Which it was.

[Sr.]

Ron Turner? Really? OK, I've stopped laughing now. The defense did do its job. The offense took a while to get going but Orton put in a great performance in that last offensive drive for the go ahead touchdown. Without a couple of key mistakes in the beginning of the game, the Bears would have led that game the whole way and it never would have been a contest. It came down to special teams and the Bears usually good special teams let them down.

Smith is a good coach, I think. Turner is an ass, I'm pretty sure. After interviewing for like a half dozen head coach jobs and getting passed over for all of them, Rivera's contract ran out after he was insisting on like a 33 percent raise. You're dreaming if you think you're going to get a 33 percent raise from the McCaskey's. It's not firing him if his contract was done. Which it was.

If Smith has Gould kick it off all the way down to the goal line they win the game. Squib kicks hurt more than they help. A coaching blunder it was.

[Dan Michler]

I'm agreeing with Jon on all of the above issues.

That being said I do think Lovie is largely responsible for our 3 4th quarter debacles.  If we kick it deep with 11 seconds left today we would have won that game.  The squib is used when only a TD runback can beat you.  Up by 2 with 11 seconds left is obviously not a time to set them up with field position.  In the other 2 losses I really think we put the handcuffs on the offense with overly conservative play-calling way too early in the contest.  We were seeing if the other team could take it away from us instead of going out and trying to take it ourselves.

That was a rough loss today, but an entertaining game.  With the lack of offensive talent we had on paper going into the season, this team has been a nice surprise.  Orton has developed into a functional QB.  He'll make some plays here and there and he won't lose the game for us.  That was a heck of a throw and a drive to get the lead with 11 seconds left.  Hopefully his confidence will build off of that despite the end result of the game.  The Cowboys lost again today, I really think the NFC is up for grabs.

[Mike Clark]

Ron Turner? Really? OK, I've stopped laughing now. The defense did do its job. The offense took a while to get going but Orton put in a great performance in that last offensive drive for the go ahead touchdown. Without a couple of key mistakes in the beginning of the game, the Bears would have led that game the whole way and it never would have been a contest. It came down to special teams and the Bears usually good special teams let them down.

Smith is a good coach, I think. Turner is an ass, I'm pretty sure. After interviewing for like a half dozen head coach jobs and getting passed over for all of them, Rivera's contract ran out after he was insisting on like a 33 percent raise. You're dreaming if you think you're going to get a 33 percent raise from the McCaskey's. It's not firing him if his contract was done. Which it was.

Lovie is a Defensive minded coach with a lot of talent,not to mention the majority of the salary cap money, on Defense and they can not hold a lead in the 4th quarter. Isn't  a defense supposed to stop people from scoring especially when they have the lead. They have given up 20 or more points in the 3 loses, Brian Gressie throws the ball 65 times and the don't sack him once, and they get beat by a rookie quarter back. So how does this make him a good Coach? How did the defense do their job? Didn't Lovie get more than a 33% raise? I guess getting laid off from a job isn't getting fired either. IMO when you have done your job well and your services are still needed and a company lets you go you are still being fired. I am sure Rivera was being under paid to begin with just like the majority of the Bears coaching staff has been historically Especially when you are being replaced by a cheap lackey. And yes I think Bob "Baggage" is just a Lovie lackey.

I didn't say I thought Ron Turner was a nice guy or some sort of Offensive genius. I did say that we would be fine with him as the Offensive Coordinator. Go look at the Bears records books. He has ran some of the best offenses that the Bears have ever had. They Bears offense has played well enough in every game this year to have won the game. The only game they may have cost the Bears is the Carolina game. But they still had the lead going into the 4th quarter. They almost cost them the Eagles game as well.

If they would have kicked the ball deep in the Atlanta game they would not have had anytime left to kick the field goal. If they would have forced them to throw the ball over the middle instead of not even defending the sideline they would not have had anytime left to kick the field goal. IMO bad coaching.

[CEValkyrie]

From Yahoo Sports.

This weeks losers.
• The Bears coaching staff
The decision to squib the kickoff with 11 seconds remaining cost the Bears the game, plain and simple. What was with the soft zone in the secondary, allowing Michael Jenkins to catch a 26-yard pass to put Jason Elam in field-goal range? This is a team that could be 6-0 right now with some better coaching decisions.

[Jon Brakel]

I can agree that the squib kick was stupid and that better coaching decisions should have been made. I don't think the problem is Smith. I would get rid of Turner before Smith. The only justification for the squib in that situation is if your kicker is really good at something on that kind of turf...if he is, he didn't show it on Sunday!

If I owned the Bears then Ron Rivera would still be on the team as the defensive coordinator. But he tried to play his hand like he was in a power position and he wasn't. The McCaskey's just don't hand over money like that no matter how good you are for the team. I think I read in Crain's that the Bears are worth nearly $1 billiion. I'm not sure if that's an accounting number or what they could sell the team for or what but you and I both know that they "could" have doubled Rivera's salary if they had wanted to.

The defense did its job in that game in that they shut down one of the top running games in the league and slowed down the passing to the point where Atlanta had to settle for field goals. It would have been nice to get a few 3 and outs but the defense still did their job.

I said that they lost because of special teams. Because of that last kick off. That was both a let down in coverage and the call to squib it and the squib itself. However, a game shouldn't come down to one play and the Bears blew a couple of opportunities early on both sides of the ball.

Is it the head coach, others in the coaching staff or what? I think it is the coaching environment. I think the McCaskey's are extremely conservative and it is easier to support conservative coaching decisions. This travels all the way down the line until someone (Smith? I don't know who made the call) decides to squib it for the last kick off.

It is the more conservative move to keep Turner and not give Rivera the raise he's looking for. I think the Bears offense wins despite Turner. I think Turner tries to not lose. I think Rivera tried to win no matter what. I see a head coach as the position to keep all the staff in balance and working toward one goal. I think Smith is the kind of guy who can do that. He seems like a natural leader who speaks softly but is well respected by the other coaches and the players. He does have a funny first name...especially for football.

[Dan Michler]

Clark you are getting a little nuts if you think the Offense is outperforming the Defense.  We are 13th in Total Offense and have the 7th best Defense going by points allowed per game.

I'm definitely not letting Lovie off the hook.  Coaching decisions have absolutely contributed heavily in all 3 losses.  Isn't Turner doing the playcalling though?  I'd blame the offensive playcalling in the 2nd half for the losses to Carolina and Tampa Bay.  We had them on the ropes and then we called off the dogs and gave them a chance.  Sure the defense gave up the points, but the offense has to keep the pedal to the metal and not give the opposition so many chances.  The squib kick was insane, and the team's ability to manage the clock for all the year's we've been under Lovie has been atrocious. 

That being said, this team should probably be 0-6 with the personnel we have on paper.  I feel the team has overachieved as a whole under Lovie, which is why I'd like to keep him.  Its so easy to blame coaching all the time, but once you start bringing in a new coaching staff and overhauling the team, it can become a neverending process like in Oakland and Detroit.  Lovie just needs better people around him to do the in-game decision making.  The Bears have had their most success since 1985 under the Lovie Smith regime, so don't be so quick to call for his head or you might just get what you wish for.

[pearso66]

I think every single coach needs to be fired, ESPECIALLY Ron Turner.  I blame every one of them for losing yesterday's game, and also the other games.  Ron Turner likes to play I'm winning, let's just play run out the clock.  When you're up, put your foot on the opponents throat and don't let up until it's safe.  7 points even 21 points isn't safe.  The Defense is the same way, when they are up, they play conservative, basically, don't let the big play beat you, but allow these stupid 10 yard dink dunk passes until they get into scoring position.

Turner and Babich seem to be aweful coaches, I couldn't stand Turner the first time he was with the Bears, and absolutely hated it when they brought him back.  Rivera was definitely a better defensive coach than Babich is, and they let him walk.  They should have fired Turner last year, but they didn't because Lovie wanted him, and they shouldn't have let Rivera go, but they did because Lovie wanted Babich.  Therefor in my opinion, Lovie has to go also for making the god aweful coaching decisions to bring these guys in, and let them play this way. 

They should bring Rivera back as either Defensive coach or Head Coach.  If they could somehow get both him and Singletary back, that would be fantastic, but I think they both want head coaching jobs.

[Jon Brakel]

Ah, the voice of reason. Your team is 3-3...FIRE ALL THE COACHES, MAN!!!

This team is a bit under talented in most areas and maybe over rated in those few other areas. They could as easily be 0-6 AND 6-0. Not many teams can claim that. They MUST make better off season decisions in the future to contend in the current NFL system but I don't think I'd change the coaches in the middle of the season no matter how much I dislike Turner. It'd be nice if the McCaskey's sold out to some uber-rich guy who wants to run the Bears for fun but it is there only family business and I think as long as Virginia is alive they are locked into running it as a family business. The McCaskey's own 80 percent of the Bears and Virginia votes for all of them. What happens once Virginia is no longer with us remains to be seen but she could live to be 120 years old!

[pearso66]

I don't think they should fire the coaches now, but none of them should be back for next year.  I know this team could easily be 6-0 or 0-6, but I think the reason they aren't 6-0 is solely the coaches fault.  I believe the Players can win and lose the games on their own.  I don't think the Coaches can be solely responsible for winning a game, but they sure can for losing.  Lovie has proven time and time again, since the year before the Super Bowl, that he can not make half time adjustments.  They have also shown in that time period to play "safe" once they gain the lead.  The problem is once they get into the safe mode, they don't know how to adjust out of it.  Ron Turner should never have been hired, he was bad the last time the Bears had him, he was bad at Illinois, and he's still bad.  Jauron was fired because of his loyalty to Shoop, Lovie has to be fired because of his loyalty to these 2 bozo's.  If they would play and go for the throat when they are winning and not give up until they are sure they won, then I'd be happy, but they seem to be happy with a 1 point lead at half time, and think they won.

I remember a time a few years ago, when the Bears were once again a 1 half team, but they were a 2nd half team.  I'd much rather have that than the 1st half team they have now.

[Mike Clark]

From Yahoo Sports.

This weeks losers.
• The Bears coaching staff
The decision to squib the kickoff with 11 seconds remaining cost the Bears the game, plain and simple. What was with the soft zone in the secondary, allowing Michael Jenkins to catch a 26-yard pass to put Jason Elam in field-goal range? This is a team that could be 6-0 right now with some better coaching decisions.

This pretty sums up what I am trying to say.

Michler, I do not think that the offense has out performed the defense. The defense has played better than the offense. The defense just has not done their job. Which is to win games. The offense was supposed to be a work in progress. The defense was supposed be ready to go and carry this team. Coaches comments not mine. Well its not turning out that way is it. Bad coaching. That is why I think they should be fired.  Ever since the Super Bowl this team has sucked. And I don't think they were all that great of a Super Bowl team. They played well in a weak league.

I wasn't making a post to defend Ron Turner. All I am trying to say about Ron Turner is that the offense has it job better than I and probably most people had ever expected them to do. With the talent they have, other then what appears to be a pretty good running back, I would not have expected them to put up more that 10-13 point a game. I thought we would be the Ravens with not as good of a defense. If you want to say Ron Turner needs to be fired as well fine. Fire him for doing his job. They want him to be conservative. They knew who they were getting when they hired him. Who would have thought this would be a top 15 offense at this point in the season? Maybe top 10 by the end of the season with the way they are improving from week to week. I do not want Turner gone because I do want the Bears to win soon. This offense is actually improving. If you start over with a new offense this team will really be screwed up.

This defense still has some really good talent on it. They are getting older but they could still win now if they were better coached. I believe that great defenses win championships, and I think NFL history backs me up. Great offenses look really cool but rarely do they win Super Bowls. As a fan all I care about is the Bears winning the Super Bowl. And I think they are missing a really great oppurtunity. This entire league is up for grabs this year and I feel completely let down by this supposedly great defense.

[Jon Brakel]

I think some of you assume that Smith has more power than the McCaskey's would ever let a coach have. I don't think Smith has any power to keep or remove the coaches under him. Certainly no other Bears head coach has had that authority. I think if it had been up to Smith then Rivera would still be with the club.

I don't think that the McCaskey's have the ability to hire good coaches. They hire coaches that they can control. That's why every head coach that the Bears have ever hired have been first time NFL head coaches. They don't pay for experience they pay for putty to form the way that they want...and they don't pay much for that putty either! The Bears don't need to win a Super Bowl for the McCaskey's to make money...and that's the bottom line.

[Arok]

I think some of you assume that Smith has more power than the McCaskey's would ever let a coach have. I don't think Smith has any power to keep or remove the coaches under him. Certainly no other Bears head coach has had that authority. I think if it had been up to Smith then Rivera would still be with the club.

I don't think that the McCaskey's have the ability to hire good coaches. They hire coaches that they can control. That's why every head coach that the Bears have ever hired have been first time NFL head coaches. They don't pay for experience they pay for putty to form the way that they want...and they don't pay much for that putty either! The Bears don't need to win a Super Bowl for the McCaskey's to make money...and that's the bottom line.

Thats a great point....

[Mike Clark]

I think if it had been up to Smith then Rivera would still be with the club.

From all reports after the Super Bowl I have to completely disagree with this. Lovie Smith could not wait for Ron Rivera's contract to end. He did not get along with Rivera at all. Rivera wanted to biltz more like the Bears teams that he played on and the Eagles teams he coached for. Lovie Smith does not like to blitz. He thinks all the pressure should come from the front 4 of the defensive line. Lovie did not have his back and could wait for him to leave so he could put his buddy Bob Baggage in the position, which he was completely unqualified for at the time and still is, all so he could have a yes man that would run the defense that Lovie wants to run. Babich is a Lovie guy. They coached together before. If Lovie would have had Rivera's back and been more worried about the team instead of his own ego and contract status the Bears might have felt it was important to keep Rivera. But no Lovie took all the credit for what the defense did and said we do not Rivera we can do it without him. Apparently the Bears kept the wrong coach and Lovie is to blame.

Lovie Smith wanted to keep Dave Toub and he got a new contract that from reports make him one the highest paid at his position.

And yes the Bears are cheap. There is no avoiding that. They have been known for under paying their coaches. And would under pay their players if they could get away with it. But other teams are cheap and win by being smart and care about winning. The Steelers are about as cheap as the come and they seems to be competitive almost every year and have recently won a Super Bowl.

Of course they are not going to fire him right now who would take over. Turner. No way they would be even worse off with him as head coach. And they would still have to pay Lovie for the rest of the year. Things are not that bad yet. They probably will not even fire him until his contract is up, the Bears are cheap. But that is not going to change my opinion of Lovie as a head coach. He is not a good head coach.

You have to make your decision on your coaches fairly early in the year. If you do not you risk falling into the trap of players playing hard for their coach so that he keeps his job. Then the team starts to play better and people start to think it okay cause the team is turning around. When that happens its even worse for me because I feel they should have been playing that hard along.

[pearso66]

If you like the offense that Turner has, that's fine, if anything play calling has to be taken away from him. It seems to me that Orton runs a better offense when he is in the 2 minute drill and calling the plays himself.  Turner may have a good system in place, but you wouldn't know it with the piss poor way he calls a game.

Are the McCaskeys cheap? Yes.  Do they give head coaches the power to hire and fire assistant coaches? Yes.  I remember Jauron was fired directly for being to loyal to Jon Shoop.  It was Lovie's idea to bring in Babich.  I don't know if it was Lovie's idea for Turner, that could have been Angelo, but he still stuck with him.

McCaskeys I don't think are cheap with players anymore.  They pay the players who they think need to stick around, Tillman, Briggs, Urlacher, Vasher, Harris.  I know someone will bring up Berrian, but he didn't deserve the money he got.  I think they have been very good with players lately, the problem is Angelo doesn't know how to put together an offense.  That and with the teams lack of play calling knowledge, and the inability to make a change at halftime.  Why not stop stacking the line against Atlanta to play the pass?  Why not double cover White?  Why not make sure that the sidelines are covered on that last offensive play? 

Those are just problems from 1 game.  They have done this game in and game out.  3 years ago against Carolina in the playoffs, they don't change up to keep Smith out of the game.  The Super Bowl, they got a lead and sat on it.  The coaching staff is full of morons, minus Taub.  Although he might look better because of Hester than he would without.

[Dan Michler]

You have to make your decision on your coaches fairly early in the year. If you do not you risk falling into the trap of players playing hard for their coach so that he keeps his job. Then the team starts to play better and people start to think it okay cause the team is turning around. When that happens its even worse for me because I feel they should have been playing that hard along.

this thread has gotten pretty tired, but i did happen to read this part which is hilarious!  make sure to fire your coach early or your team might start to play better which makes it harder to fire your coach.  i love it!

i can't tell you how many times i've watched games and said to myself 'damnit, these guys are clearly playing well just to make their coach look good, that just burns my biscuits'.

i'll give you this clark, you are more committed to your opinions than anybody i know, plus you crack me up!