A promising season for the Chicago Bears has grown troubled down the stretch as coach Lovie Smith's team has lost four of their last five. The late-season swoon has negatively impacted contract talks between the team and its coach, according CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora, who cited sources to report that discussions over an extension have "dried up." That might force Smith -- who signed a two-year extension before last season -- into lame-duck status entering 2013. First-year general manager Phil Emery has been given authority to evaluate the coaching staff, which might loom as a troubling sign for Smith if he fails to take the Bears somewhere special. La Canfora hinted that Emery might pluck fruit off the Bill Belichick tree for the next Bears coach. Source: NFL.com
Barring the Bears making the playoffs and winning a playoff game or two, I don't see Lovie being retained. Can't let him go into his final contract year as a lame duck coach. Yeah maybe it kind of worked for Cincy & Marvin Lewis but that is the exception not the rule. You either extend him or fire him and well, the fire him side of the argument makes a lot more sense right now. I also agree on hiring a more offensive minded coach. I'm a bit wary of the remark about looking for a Belichick disciple, nothing but rotten apples have been dropping from that tree in terms of head coaches.
