Comments on: Phil Emery makes clear: Lovie Smith failed at building the offense

By: dukemarc

dukemarc — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:54:15 +0000

But Phil, didn’t you fail at providing him an Offensive Line?

By: larryboodry

larryboodry — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:11:37 +0000

The latest name on Emery’s list is Tom Clements, who just jumped to the top of my wish list.

By: smokeyp

smokeyp — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:32:15 +0000

The only question in my mind is why did it take so long? Having a great defense for all these years and nothing to show for it is a shame. All we needed was a mediocre offense and we would have one at least one Superbowl. Lovie & Angelo should have been fired four years ago at the latest.

By: calviniii

calviniii — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 07:07:24 +0000

Angelo got them both fired with bad drafts. Bears whiffed on 3 first round tackles, Colombo, Williams and Carimi. What other team has that track record?

By: turfrage

turfrage — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 06:04:59 +0000

Whoever is blaming Emery for not getting the guys knows nothing about player personnel. Emery just started last year before the draft using another GMs info/priorities, etc. THIS is Phil’s first draft that is his own, with his own scouts, his system, his priorities. He could’ve fired Smith last year, but gave him a year to evaluate him too.

By: chi01town

chi01town — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 03:00:02 +0000

Emery needs to move fast so the New Coach can put his staff together. and who ever that is should get rid of Tice first.

By: deiong

deiong — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:32:48 +0000

think the mistake was putting tice as cordinator. guy may have been good at some point. but he stunk it up this year.

By: bornboxed

bornboxed — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:24:52 +0000

I’m just happy to see the Bears franchise self implode and torpedo into irrelevancy. We all knew it was only a matter of time.

By: bujuman69

bujuman69 — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:57:20 +0000

Not a Bears fan…doesn’t it make sense to keep continuity on an overachieving top- notch defense and get a real OC? They should have kept Lovie and hired Norv. O-line is terrible, GM’s job? This guy let his impatient fans make his decision.

By: keepitsimplestoopid

keepitsimplestoopid — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:29:18 +0000

That bears O-line has been outright scandalous the last few years. Just horrible.

You can’t just swap out OC’s every year and pretend that the problem wasn’t higher up the chain (coach and GM).

By: larryboodry

larryboodry — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:03:52 +0000

elschill says: Jan 1, 2013 2:25 PM

“Also, I’m sick of the Cutler bashing. The dude is a strong pro qb. Look at how we did without him.”

Great post, but the haters will never understand.

By: mvp43

mvp43 — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:49:33 +0000

@satanicxhellxcreature

Which is why he would make a better D-Coach than a head coach.

By: somekat

somekat — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:43:16 +0000

Does this guy look like the doc from “back to the future” with shorter hair, or is it just me?

By: elschill

elschill — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:25:41 +0000

Also, I’m sick of the Cutler bashing. The dude is a strong pro qb. Look at how we did without him.

By: elschill

elschill — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:21:34 +0000

Okay, I really liked Lovie. Think he’s a great coach and believe he will find success quickly in the nfl. But… It was time. His system is more suited for a warm climate or domed stadium. He has the same, speed first philosophy that dungy had, which doesn’t work out great during the Chicago winters. Da Bears need beef to win in the final stretch.

By: 1oldpro

1oldpro — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:11:45 +0000

When is the last time the Bears had a top 5 ranked offense at the end of a year? When is the last time the Bears had a top five ranked passing offense?
They hired a defensive coach to turn a team’s offense around, when nobody has ever been offensive minded in this franchise? Why don’t they hire a great offensive coach to turn the offense around?
As far back as I can recall, the Bears have not had a good offensive line! Try drafting some GOOD OL!

By: tommytd

tommytd — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:57:47 +0000

irst, this guy looks like Boris Karloff. Second, yes, Lovie Smith failed to find a competent OC to lead his Offense. That was fixable if the Emery really wanted to keep him. He didn’t. He wanted his guy. Fine. What he also failed to have before this year was a legitimate WR crew. I don’t think that’s his fault. But, what the Bears did have in Lovie is solid leader of men, whose teams always seemed prepared and organized and NEVER, EVER beat themselves.
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Yea, they were totally prepared and organized when they played Frisco and Seattle weren’t they? And we all know how effective he was with his clock management skills right? The Bears weren’t paying Lovie to lead men, they were paying him to win football games and he wasn’t getting the job done. Yikes…

By: tommytd

tommytd — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:48:31 +0000

I blame Jay Cutler more than Lovie Smith. How can an offense build chemistry around a dude that throws more temper tantrums than a 3 year old?
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You’re right. This guy is a crybaby with an attitude. Unfortunately, the QB position demands leadership and it will NEVER happen with Cutler. There are reasons why Denver let him go and I’m afraid we’re living them week to week. At the rate we’re going, it’s not going to be an issue much longer because our O line is going to eventually get him killed.

By: satanicxhellxcreature

satanicxhellxcreature — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:47:54 +0000

First things first, I hate the Bears, so I’ve enjoyed watching and listening to the debacle that was Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since Lovie’s contract extension in ’06, he’s had a lot of say in player personnel. Much of the team is there because he wanted them. He’s the one that never cared about offense, even saying at times that the defense is expected to score and win games. I really believe he thinks offense really doesn’t matter if you have a great defense. And anybody blaming Phil Emery for personnel issues, this was his first season as the GM. That being said, here’s to hoping he’s just a new Jerry Angelo.

By: edavidberg

edavidberg — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:47:29 +0000

Greg Olsen can’t block, he is not a tight end he’s a wide out. He also couldn’t hold onto the ball at key times.

Kellen Davis is not an NFL player. He, the o line and the Bears receiving corps prior to this year are examples of how Lovie and Angelo deluded themselves into thinking they had competent players on the field when they had players who couldn’t pull their own weight. Not to mention offensive coordinators who were simply offensive.

By: mvp43

mvp43 — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:43:20 +0000

Sometimes change for change sake can be a good thing…….. for both parties.

By: tommytd

tommytd — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:43:13 +0000

“There is not a coach alive who could have been successful with last season’s cast, especially on the Oline and TE.”

They had a franchise TE in Olsen and gave him away to please Martz, then canned Martz a year later…While that is not on Lovie, his insistence this year that Kellen Davis was a solid TE, and refusing to acknowledge the pathetic o-line, is a big part of why I’m glad he’s gone.
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Bears’ tight ends don’t even figure into the playbook. Kellen Davis can’t catch, the O line can’t block, the QB has an attitude, the HC can’t seem to put a staff together on both sides of the ball, the front office is totally inept, their drafts have been a disaster…what do we expect from this totally inept franchise??? They don’t deserve to make the playoffs.

By: leeeroooyjeeenkiiins

leeeroooyjeeenkiiins — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:34:32 +0000

I’m certainly not suggesting Lovie is free of all blame here, but if it’s now the coach’s job to “build”, rather than just coach, an offense…what exactly does Emery do? Is it all Lovie’s fault that the offensive line is a revolving door, or does Emery not also deserve some blame here? Isn’t he the one who’s supposed to be “building” the roster?

By: claymatthewshairplugs

claymatthewshairplugs — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:28:38 +0000

Some posters here need to be educated!!!!!!!!! Emery has only been on the job ONE year. Jerry Angelo and Lovie were the guys who put together this crap offense. It was Angelo and Lovie who tried to make Webb an all pro. Emery put in some talent on this offense ie (Marshall) but Angelo and Lovie drafted and wasted so many picks that this team had no depth once a starter got injured. Morons on here stop blaming Emery, Angelo has already been fired and the last remnants of failure was gone when Emery finally fired Lovie.

By: soytureyna

soytureyna — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:24:58 +0000

I blame Jay Cutler more than Lovie Smith. How can an offense build chemistry around a dude that throws more temper tantrums than a 3 year old?

By: purplegreenandgold

purplegreenandgold — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:20:03 +0000

Phil Jackson!

By: snowpea84

snowpea84 — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:18:10 +0000

The only question I have is, who was making the personnel decisions. Who is responsible for that O-line?

By: snowpea84

snowpea84 — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:17:07 +0000

The Bears have proven for over a decade that they simply don’t value offensive line as highly as they should, and the results speak for themselves. In the last decade or so they’ve used what? Three first round picks on o-linemen. That’s all well and good, but how many 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or even 6th round picks have they used? Close to zero. It’s actually astounding when you look at it. Teams with good offensive lines don’t just grab one guy at the top of the draft occasionally. Every year they use one or two mid round picks, creating competition and depth.

By: mute617

mute617 — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:10:31 +0000

If you don’t give the man job security he can’t get a good OC I join on. Once they finally dumped Ron Turner, Lovie was stuck with Martz & Tice cuz everyone thought Lovie wasn’t going to be around long. He was set up to fail.

By: rathwell

rathwell — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:04:11 +0000

I think most of the comments on this post fit into two categories: a) pro-Lovie, or b) pro-Emery.

a) If you are a Lovie fan then you can reasonably argue that he got shafted.

b) If you are an Emery guy then you can reasonably argue that change in coach is justified

Emery > Lovie, so Emery gets to make the call.

I personally would have liked to given Lovie one more season with this group of Bears because I think with a few personnel changes on offence we are still top 10 team that can legitimately compete for the superbowl.

However, with this firing and having new coaches and systems, and the player changeover that comes with this type of change, it will be a few years before we can compete for the division, let alone for the superbowl.