INDIANAPOLISOne NFL source told CSNChicago.com on the day of GM Jerry Angelos firing that Lovie Smith was devastated. The shock of the move surprised even many of those inside Halas Hall.
And yet, this is the NFL. So upon sufficient reflection after an 8-8 season and losing five of the last six, I cant necessarily say surprised at the end of the year, Smith said Thursday.
I dont think any coach or GM in the league is surprised about anything that happens but again Jerry did an awful lot for us, but you move on and thats what weve done.
Jerry will be fine, hes a lifetime friend but you do move on.
The promotion of Mike Tice from offensive line coach to coordinator was not one of the offseason surprises. It was amply apparent over the past two seasons that Mike Martzs approach was not working and matters improved significantly when Tice was given more influence over game planning.
The Bears had considered hiring both a quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator but with the hiring of Jeremy Bates as quarterbacks coach, the added layer was deemed unnecessary.
I thought about a lot of different things but in the end I didnt feel like we needed a passing-game coordinator, Smith said. We have a coordinator in Mike Tice; we dont have a defensive run-game coordinator or anything like that; and I didnt feel like we needed one for passing. I was trying to get the perfect group that I could on the offensive side of the ball.
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Everybody will have input. Jeremy Bates is our quarterbacks coach coming in. Hes been a coordinator in this league, I know what hes done and I know his history with Jay Cutler. I just didnt feel like we needed any more titles.