Chicago Bears Insider: Should Lovie Smith’s Contract Be Extended?
Published by Bryan Dietzler on January 8, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
By now you may be growing tired of the talk about whether or not the Bears should extend current head coach Lovie Smith’s contract for a few more years.
You have heard questions as to whether or not he has done enough to warrant an extension. People are wondering if the Bears should get locked into another contract with a coach that might do well this year, then falter and force the Bears to keep him because of the money that he is owed.
So has Smith done enough to warrant an extension from the Bears? Remember that he was very close to being fired this season, and if the Bears had failed to make the playoffs, you could almost bet that he would have been let go despite the fact that there is not going to be a Collective Bargaining Agreement (so far) next year.
The pressure for him to get fired would have been too great, and the Bears would have been forced to find another coach.
You have to admit that not too many people expected the Bears to be this good this season. It appeared as if the offense would struggle in its first season under offensive coordinator Mike Martz as for one, he was installing a new system with a steep learning curve and he didn’t have quite the stable of offensive talent that he had in the past, so it probably wouldn’t have worked on offense.
The defense was set up front but there were numerous questions at the safety position even though they brought Chris Harris to help shore up the secondary. It appeared as if this team would struggle.
The show that the team put on in the preseason only enforced the opinion that the Bears would struggle during the regular season. The Bears didn’t win a single game during the preseason and, despite the fact that preseason doesn’t really matter when you stack it up against the regular season, people felt that Chicago wouldn’t win too many games.
The start of the season was good for the Bears. They went undefeated through three games, including wins over the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. And then the rug was pulled out from underneath them, as they lost to the Giants (and lost their quarterback Jay Cutler for a game-and-a-half).
They did beat the Carolina Panthers, but lost to the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins. Going in the bye, the Bears had to do something to turn things around.
The Bears went ahead and reeled off five straight wins after finding themselves on both sides of the ball. Their special teams also helped them win some games and positioned themselves for the playoffs. Then there was that difficult loss to the Patriots. The Bears picked things up, won the NFC North in Minnesota and then outlasted the Jets in a big shootout.
The loss to Green Bay didn’t factor into much and may have helped the Bears in the long run.
So what does all of this mean in regards to Smith and a contract extension? It means that Smith helped lead this team through some trying times, had the sense to realize what was working and what wasn’t, made changes and got the team back on the right track. He did it with a bevy of quality assistant coaches like Martz and offensive line coach Mike Tice helping him out.
Perhaps without help from those two, this team may have faltered this season.
It would be nice to see the Bears keep the same coaching staff in place for at least one more season to see what they would be able to do with another season under their belts, as well as hope for some improvements on the offensive line through the draft or free agency. If they don’t make it to the Super Bowl this season, the Bears and their coaches should get one more chance at making it to the big game next season.
Smith has one more year on his contract and the Bears are not likely to let him go after this season, so he will be here for one more season. But should the Bears give him a contract extension? If they feel that he and the rest of his coaching staff can continue to do what he did this season, then it’s possible that it could be a good idea to give him one.
But it’s also possible that the Bears organization wouldn’t want to “put all of their eggs in one basket,” which might be a good thing. Perhaps giving Smith another chance without signing him to a long-term deal wouldn’t make him complacent and would keep the Bears winning in 2011.
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