Is Lovie enough to fill the seats?

The Tampa Tribune ^ | Joe Henderson

[4Runner]

The first rule of public relations disasters is to change the narrative as quickly as possible. With that in mind, I’ll give Family Glazer a cookie for their rapid response in turning the 4-12 stench that was sooooo last season into a Loviefest.

Well done.

New coach Lovie Smith is a proven winner with local ties, and having a team that competes for the playoffs every year would certainly be refreshing.

Call me jaded, though, on at least one big point. I’m not sure even winning automatically will fill Raymond James Stadium every Sunday and beyond. I think fans are going to cheer with their hearts but stay skeptical with their wallets, at least for a while.

[4Runner]

I guess I just don't understand the aberrations of immense wealth. It didn't take the Glazer family two seconds to offer this guy (a minority coach) a $25 million contract. Smith (I don't even remember him from prior Bucs reincarnations)had been out of work for one year after having been fired from the Chicago Bears as head coach. This after watching coach Greg Schiano (a white man) walk out of One Buc Place with the remaining $15 million of his five-year contract still in his pocket after having labored only two of those years. Every local media person seemed to hate Schiano and beat the drum to have him fired. Even the fans developed a hatred for him and effectively drummed him out of town. I don't watch too many football games. But I watched one recently where Tampa Bay played at home. And played exceptionally well--so well in fact I had a hard time believing I was actually watching the Bucs. They won easily and astonished me at how much they had improved. Schiano may have lost too many games but he has made an immense difference in the capability and professionalism of this team. But larger forces seem to be at work. Why do I get the feeling each time I watch the Bucs or hear about the Glazer family that I'm witnessing some inscrutable social experiment playing out at great public expense? Tickets to these games are expensive and that is true for most NFL teams. But the Glazers seem to be obsessed with race. I often wonder if as the owners of the Manchster United international soccer team, the Glazers see themselves as internationalists with an agenda not unlike Nelson Mandela's--which is to uproot the existing white power structure at any price and to reward minority mediocrity wherever it can be recruited. The Tampa Tribune published statements from several Bucs players--all of whom were minority and all of whom praised Lovie Smith to the skies. Indeed I could not find one word of caution or criticism anywhere regarding the new coach choice. I wonder if there are any Black coaches or team players these minority Bucs would have found deficient, had any been the choice of the Glazers, or who they would ever criticize for anything? It seems the "Obama principle" is alive and well in professional sports. By your skin color you shall be known as invincible and immune from criticism of any sort. I mean, the Bucs just got rid of Raheem Morris (minority coach)who practically destroyed discipline in the ranks. Schiano inherited a disaster from him and performed a miracle in resuscitation (notwithstanding other problems the team had that were out of a coach's control). I think the Glazers planned it that way. Then they busted Schiano so the reins could once again be placed in the hands of a politically correct god-like coach. That's my take. What's yours?

[Dr. Sivana]

I am a Rams fan. During the 2000 season, the defense tank while the offense continued to hum well enough to get us barely into the playoffs.

During the off-season, the defensive coach was fired, and Lovie Smith was brought on to turn the defense around. Despite Martz’ goofy draft picks, a couple of decent FA acquisitions (Aeneas Williams in particular) and the addition of Lovie Smith made all of the difference, and the Rams went to the Super Bowl again. He was a rising star and after the Bears picked him up for a head coach assignment, he helped bring them to only their second Super Bowl, then the team plateaued.

I don’t blame Smith, though. He is a solid head coach and NOT an affirmative action hire. He may well thrive in Tampa. As a Rams fan, I respect our current head coach, Jeff Fisher. BUt if wwe had to replace him, and couldn’t get Cowher, I’d want Smith from the list of available coaches.

[castlegreyskull]

I am surprised no one is mentioning Mike Singletary. He did well for the 49ers, many of the players there he drafted or brought it. They kind of mutinied against him, because he drove them quite hard. Tom Coughlin was like that for the Jags, and Belichick was as well in previous stints.

[chiller]

Technology is certainly affecting NFL attendance. That and prices. Ridiculous prices. The NFL is attempting to bring into the stadium some of the technology that would allow PDA's to see replays, etc..., so it will be a tug of war between creature comforts at home and the live experience.

They won't solve it until a financial collapse brings player salaries back to earth such that more fans can afford them more easily. Or fans stop buying overpriced sports tickets, which probably won't happen.

[SECURE AMERICA]

You can not totally blame the Glazers. The NFL has made all owners aware that they MUST at least interview or consider blacks for manger positions. Actually surprised that the NFL is not pressuring the owners to hire an homosexual manager. Maybe next year.

[Dr. Sivana]

They won't solve it until a financial collapse brings player salaries back to earth such that more fans can afford them more easily. Or fans stop buying overpriced sports tickets, which probably won't happen.

It doesn't help that mid-sized municipalities are willing to throw hundreds of millions to get/keep a team. The players will always want a piece of that pie.

[Doc Savage]

Born in Chicago, a Bear’s fan. I won’t blame everything on Smith but his version of the cover-2 was not good. That having been said the new defensive coordinator for the Bears is absolutely pathetic. Although once again his Free and Strong Safeties are miserable. He has no pass rush,….they NEVER touched Rodgers ONCE in theta last game. And the linebackers are just chunks of putrid meat being run over by anyone in the league. Last in defense and Cutler can’t score enough points to overcome their failure…………. Good luck, BUT Smith is not the answer. Great players are the answer.

[Proud2BeRight]

Hope that Obama-promoter fails.

[NautiNurse]

I don't have an answer to the Glazer coaching saga. Not sure I agree with your analysis. However, I surely appreciate your thoughtful review.

Recall the turmoil that occurred when Tony Dungy was fired and replaced by Jon "Chuckie" Gruden. The long suffering Buccaneers Super Bowl championship was ultimately attained during Gruden's first season, albeit with players who had bitter discord with coach Gruden. The Bucs record tanked after that single championship season.

[Snickering Hound]

There are teams that have worse problems.

[WHBates]

I don't get the thing with Smith either. I didn't think much of him when he was at Chicago, so there is that. He is a great friend of Dungy and that may be what got him the job, but who knows, if they wanted to fill the stands until they actually developed a good team they should have hired Tim Tebow as starting QB. That would probably work in Tampa.

[usconservative]

New coach Lovie Smith is a proven winner with local ties, and having a team that competes for the playoffs every year would certainly be refreshing.

Wow. Someone really didn't pay attention to Lovie's record in Chicago did they?

Smith's record was .556 - that's barely over 500. Yes, the Bears made the Superbowl one year while Smith was coach - but that was only because the Bears were the best team in the worst division of the NFL that year.

Under Smith, the Bears were typically "one and done" in the Playoffs two times, and for Chicago Bears fans it was unconscionable that the Bears only beat the Packers TWICE during Smith's reign of terror here.

So "jump for joy" all y'all want thinking Lovie Smith is a great coach - come this time next year you'll think otherwise.

Finally, at the risk of being called a "racist!" yet again here on FR, Smith is the "affirmative action" hire for the Buc's. One Black NFL coach got fired this year, so according to Jesse Jackson rules, one NFL team had to hire a black coach "as a replacement."

Good luck Tampa Bay Fans, you're gonna need it.

[discostu]

There were no larger forces at work. Schiano is a jerk (look up the whole “rushing the kneel down” incident from last season), with a bad record. He made no friends, impressed no one, and didn’t win enough games to excuse his annoying behavior. Lovie Smith is a hot property, a lot of people out there think the Bears made a big mistake firing him, he was a linebacker coach working for Dungy when Tony started the big turnaround that got the Buc out of the toilet they’d been in since day one.

I don’t see any race obsession with the Glazers at all. They’ve owned the team for almost 20 years and they’ve hired coaches both black and white and fired all of them eventually.

You’re generally not going to find players on a team bad enough to get their coach fired saying anything not glowing about the new inbound coach. They all want a job next year, and being the guy who said he’s not sure about the new guy isn’t generally a path to keeping your job.

The Glazers fired Dungy and Raheem Morris, they fire black coaches too. The only race obsessed person in this seems to be you.

[usconservative]

Wow, you've given me so much to work with ... where to start???

That having been said the new defensive coordinator for the Bears is absolutely pathetic. Although once again his Free and Strong Safeties are miserable. He has no pass rush,….they NEVER touched Rodgers ONCE in theta last game.

While I live in the Chicago area, I'm a Green Bay Packers fan (mostly because of Lovie Smith and Jay Cutler .. but I digress.) Mel Tucker's had a challenge all year with that Defense. The problem as I see it is Lovie Smith let the Defense get old, and there was no transition plan to bring younger players up in the system. The Bears Defense was already falling apart last year under Smith, the wheels simply came off this year due to the number of injuries on the Defensive side of the line. I'm not sure you can pin the Bears Defense's failures on Tucker as much as I would to Lovie Smith and his failures. But that's just me.

And the linebackers are just chunks of putrid meat being run over by anyone in the league.

They couldn't really stop the run effectively last year -- but you're correct they got seemingly exponentially worse this year. The Defensive Line sure didn't do the Linebackers any favors either by leaving holes so wide and for so long that a slow moving semi could drive through it.

Last in defense and Cutler can’t score enough points to overcome their failure………….

If you look at the games the Bears actually won this year, in all cases except one, the Defense scored at least one TD (interception, runback) or Devin Hester ran a punt/kickoff back for a TD. If you SUBTRACT those points from each of those games - the Bears *LOST* those games. Cutler and the Office managed to put up enough points to win ONE GAME on their own. The Bears could easily be 1-15 this year were it not for the points the Defense and Special Teams put up on the board. (If you don't believe me, go back and look at the stats.)

The reality is Jay Cutler is nothing more than a mediocre quarterback who's NEVER going to get the Bears to a Superbowl. They may win the division, they may make the playoff's with him as QB and Trestman as Head Coach - but they will NEVER win a Superbowl with Cutler.

Jay Cutler falls apart in the big games, makes stupid decisions, and throws interceptions when the game is on the line. That's been his history with the Bears, that was his history with the Bronco's. Yes, he's got a hell of a strong arm and a great receiver core (Marshall, Bennett, Jeffries) along with Matt Forte behind him - but his stupid decisions will ALWAYS cost the Bears the big game.

So as a Green Bay Packers fan, I fully support the Bears re-signing Cutler for 7 years. Clearly they didn't learn their lesson pissing $30 million down a hole so what's another $54 million + incentives and even HIGHER ticket prices?

[usconservative]

Lovie Smith is a hot property, a lot of people out there think the Bears made a big mistake firing him

Those people are ignoring Smith's record as Bears head-coach, where he was .556 (barely over 500)

Smith was at his best with the St. Louis Rams as Defensive Coach when the Rams won the Superbowl.

Head-Coach material he is not. Anyone who thinks so is a fool.

[Kozak]

As a Packer fan, was sad to see him go. GO PACK!

[usconservative]

Lovie Smith is a hot property, a lot of people out there think the Bears made a big mistake firing him

BTW: One of the reasons the Bears Defense was in such bad shape this year was largely due to Smith's incompetence in bringing new players up in the system and letting other key defensive players keep playing far longer than they should have.

JJ Peppers is one example, Chris Conte (a Smith hire) who gave up the winning TD during the Bears/Packers game is another. There's more examples - these are the two most glaring.

[usconservative]

As a Packer fan, was sad to see him go.

Not to worry, the Bears just re-signed Cutler for 7 years, $54 million plus incentives. Given Cutler's 1-9 against the Packers, I don't think we Packers fans have much to worry about. ;-)

[discostu]

556 isn’t that bad a record, “barely” over 500 is OVER 500, way better than Schiano. And Lovie did go 10-6 the year he got fired.

Bill Belichick went 36-44 with the Browns, don’t right somebody off on their first stint, things get learned.

[Kozak]

Yeah. I LOLed .