We pointed out on November 15 that Charley Casserly of CBS said, in absolute and unambiguous terms, that based on his discussions with “the Bears,” Lovie Smith would be back in 2010 as the head coach.
Specifically, Casserly said at the time that the Bears are “100 percent committed” to Smith.
Here’s what we said in response: “The reality is that, with seven games left in the season and, in
theory, an opportunity for the team to turn it around, there’s no
reason to undermine Smith. Instead, ‘the Bears’ will see what happens
the rest of the way, and then ‘the Bears’ will make a decision.”
Six weeks later, Casserly is singing the final bars of the tune we were humming in the middle of November.
“The Bears think the world of Lovie Smith; however, they came into this season with high expectations,” Casserly said on The NFL Today. “The season has been a major disappointment for them, especially the downward spiral that they’d have in the last part of the season. When the season’s over, they’re gonna have a major evaluation of the entire football program. Look for this — major changes to occur.”
Casserly said that, if Smith ends up being fired, the Bears will not hire Mike Shanahan — which might explain why Shanahan ESPN is reporting that he isn’t interested in the Bears, even though ESPN reported three days ago that Shanahan was “extremely interested” in the Bears. Though Shanahan supposedly is willing to work with a G.M., Shanahan wants final say over the roster, which means that he wants the G.M. to take a back seat to the head coach, and that’s something Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo won’t do.
Look, we’ve got no problem with Casserly being incorrect. But he should have realized back on November 15 that whatever he was hearing wasn’t etched in stone, and he should have at least acknowledged his prior report while he was necessarily declaring it to be flat-out wrong.
(Cue the commenters who’ll accuse us of doing the same thing — without any hard evidence that we’ve contradicted one of our own reports without acknowledging that our new report makes our prior report incorrect.)
They need a regime change. It’s clear that they’re not moving in the right direction. They went off the rails when Rivera left. And now without D their failures on the offensive side are glaring. What boggles me is why ownership hasn’t recognized that the current management, in particular Angelo, isn’t getting the job done. If he’s the roadblock to bringing guys like Shanahan in then he’s gotta go.
Angelo is just as responsible for this mess as Lovie is. He’s the one who failed miserably with all the draft picks, and even though I believe we can judge Cutler better when he has a line and some players around him, that deal isn’t looking too good either. They both need to go.
Maybe Casserly secretly wants the job in Chicago? With his indecisive reporting he would fit right into the Bear’s mess.
He is a bit hard to listen to. Don’t mind most commentators on pre-game shows, but he stands out as being extra annoying for some reason.
Just feels like the fingernails on chalkboard sound when he talks.
Not only does Lovie need to go… JA needs to go along with him. When’s the last time the Bears had a good draft?!?! Way, WAY too long…
JA is trying to save is job by putting the blame on the coach while Lovie is trying to save his job by blaming it on the players being brought it…
The McCaskey’s really need to turn this franchise upside down and start from scratch…
Cleaning time…..
(Cue the commenters who’ll accuse us of doing the same thing — without any hard evidence that we’ve contradicted one of our own reports without acknowledging that our new report makes our prior report incorrect.)
………………………………………..
consider me cued…but I have to admit your disclaimer makes no sense to me…what in the hell are you saying??…is that just fancy lawyer gibberish?
Douche Bag: someone who boasts about making a correct prediction in the past that nobody cares enough about to remember. Particularly popular amongst football fans.
*Peyton Manning throws 30th touchdown pass*
Fred: Wow, he is just incredible
Mike Florio: 6 months ago I predicted he would hit 30 by the end of the year. I called it! Remember when I said that? I called it 6 MONTHS AGO!
Fred: Want a cookie?