Is Lovie Smith finally on his way out?
Sorry Lovie-Haters, probably not.
I don’t pretend to know the heart of Phil Emery but, unless the Bears absolutely stink it up in these next 2 games, I see Lovie keeping his job for one more year. (If the Bears had’ve beat the Packers this past Sunday after 5 straight losses to Green Bay, Lovie may have received an extension.) I believe that Lovie is so beloved in Halas Hall that he’d have to lose complete command of the team to lose his job.
And, if you listen to Brian Urlacher, Lovie is still in charge.
However, at minimum, Lovie will be forced to reshuffle his coordinators again. But what credible coordinator would want to come into a dysfunctional situation?
So how will it play out? I’m glad you asked!
Say hello to Jeremy Bates, your new Offensive Coordinator.
If Phil Emery is serious about giving Jay Cutler an extension and would like a hometown discount, then this move is a turkey shoot. Jay loves Jeremy and Bates is going to climb up the coaching tree to be a head coach someday. The Bears will ditch Mike Tice and O-line coach Tim Holt and Lovie will stick around for at least one more year.
But what if they did fire Lovie? What would the Bears look like next year?
That will be my next post.
