Plenty of folks seem to think that the Bears firing Smith was a kind of “it’s about time, get that loser out of there” situation. That doesn’t seem to be the consensus, though. I’d been approaching it with more of a “eh, maybe it’s time for a change” attitude. But it was pointed out that Smith’s record has been 81-63, which isn’t bad. And more immediately to the point, this season we went 10-6, which is pretty good by most standards. And after a 7-1 start, two of those losses came for games where Cutler wasn’t able to finish/start. His presence may have been sufficient to carry us to 12-4 or upwards. And furthermore, a few of our other starters were coming and going with injury, too. 

In other words, it could be strongly argued that we missed the playoffs, and therefore fired our coach, due to bad luck. But what’s done is done.

So what’s next? The GM had a long chat this morning for reporters which can all be read here, but he stated that it was the lack of further playoff runs that sealed Smith’s fate and that expectations are higher, etc. No talk of Urlacher, or now even Devin Hester in fact, retiring. 

They also listed a few names that they’ll be interviewing, which include two offensive coordinators and two special teams coordinators. Our previous three coaches had all been defensive coordinators immediately before joining the Bears (all the post-Ditka ones). Perhaps it’s time for a change.