Lovie Smith is the Bears' Defensive Coordinator?

Ya, that's right Lovie Smith demoted Bob Babich back to his old position as the linebackers coach.

Lovie Smith will call the defensive plays and take over as the defensive coordinator next season.


Lovie had this to say about the change:

“I’m excited about taking a more hands-on approach to helping our defense get back to where it was."

“I’m a big boy, and after five years in this role, I think you find out exactly how much time you have and where you have time to do a few more thing."

“This past year I coached the (nickel backs) for about half of the season and enjoyed that quite a bit. So I saw that I had a little bit more time to do some of these things. It’s not unprecedented for head coaches to call defensive signals, but rare. There are a lot of offensive coaches in the league that call plays, that do a little bit more on their side of the ball where their expertise is."

“For some reason, a lot of defensive coaches haven’t done it. But I think it’s time to change some of that.”

The Bears' defense finished 28th (354.7 yards per game) in 2007 and 21st this past season (334.7 ypg) under Bob Babich.

That is just unacceptable, when you have that many talented players on the defense.

The Bears hired former Lions head coach Rod Marinelli Saturday as defensive line coach and assistant head coach. Smith and Marinelli became good friends while coaching together under Tony Dungy with Tampa Bay from 1996-2000, and Smith said Marinelli will make his job easier.


Lovie said this about Marinelli:

“I have worked with Rod in the past. I know what he brings, he’s an excellent teacher, communicator, motivator."

Marinelli, fired after the Lions went 0-16, was pursued by both Seattle and Houston, but chose Lovie and the Bears.

“I just knew that it was a perfect fit for Rod to be here,” Smith said.

Lovie on the demotion of Bob Babich:

“Bob is a team player."

“We didn’t meet our expectations this past year and in the off season you look to try to make improvements the best you can. … And just because I’m going to be more involved doesn’t mean that Bob’s not our defensive coordinator. There will be a lot of things that he’ll be helping me do."

What to expect:

Lovie hasn't coached a defense since 2003, his last season with the St. Louis Rams.

I expect this defense to be much improved, with the demotion of Babich, hiring of Rod Marinelli as defensive line coach and Lovie calling the defensive plays.

It all depends on Brian Urlacher, he is the most important part of the Cover 2, and most of the season he was horrible.

all quotes taken from chicagotribune.com

Why So Much Love for Ron Rivera?

I know last year the Bears ranked in the bottom of the NFL defensively and this year is about the seem, but people are really jumping on Lovie's guy Bob Babich.

Many have said Rivera was way better than the current defensive coordinator Bob Babich.

They are also saying that the players aren't playing for Bob Babich like they did for Ron Rivera because Rivera was a former player, so he set an example to his players.

Here is why I disagree.

Ron Rivera had basically the same defensive scheme and almost the same group of players.

Bob Babich hasn't been great thus far, but the defense could easily turn it around.


An Example of turning it around:

Lovie Smith was linebackers coach of a Buccaneers team in 1999 that lost to the Raiders 45-0 and ended up playing in the NFC Championship Game five weeks later.

“After going over what happened with the Packers game, you have to move on, and that’s what we’ve done,” Smith said. “We have a six-game season starting up right now.

What if?

But if Babich doesn't turn things around, I am pretty sure it's time for him to get out of town.

I understand we were statistically better with Rivera, but the guy hands down lost us the Super Bowl.

You can say Rex Grossman lost us the game, but the Bears D was supposed to control the Colts offense and they got thumped.


Do you remember Super Bowl 41?

If you do, you'll remember that the Bears D let the Colts run all over them.

They played conservative defense the whole game, where they let the Colts gain 15 yards here and there.

The bend but don't break mentality, which Rivera used in this game against Peyton Manning is a prescription for losing.

The Colts offensive play, looked the Bears usual game plan.

That is the stupidest way to play with such a great defense.

That is why the Bears management made Bob Babich the new defensive coordinator.

The Bears wanted to pound the ball and control the time of possession.

Even in the 4th quarter when the Bears were losing 22-17, I never felt they had a chance to actually win the game.

They just didn't look the like the Bears team, that I was used to for that season.

The reason they were so good was because they had so much talent on the defense and pretty much every player was in the prime of their career.

Babich Haters:

Maybe the Bears defensive players aren't as good as they were two years ago, because it seems like they have lost a step.

I'm not saying Babich is a good defensive coordinator, but I'm just thinking maybe there is another reason for all the bad defensive performances this season and last.

Where's Ron?

Ron Rivera later left for San Diego where he was hired as the inside linebackers coach.

The Chargers made him their defensive coordinator about three weeks ago, when the fired Ted Cottrell.

We can all boo Babich now, but we should always boo Ron Rivera.

We can all glamor about the Bears' Super Bowl season, but when you look back there is something very important missing and that is a championship.

So for all you Ron Rivera lovers out there, you should get your facts straight before praising him.

A Super Bowl loss, will sting way longer than a disappointing year as a defense unit.