Lovie Smith, in the many years he’s coached in Chicago sans quarterback, has always been fond of saying, “We get off the bus running the football.” Sadly, now his teams don’t even seem to get off the bus at all. Once again, they didn’t show up on Sunday, this time against rival and divisional foe Minnesota. If you can’t get a team up for one of your divisional rivals, what can you get them up for?
Smith is an ardent supporter and believer in the Cover Two defensive scheme. Once again, with mass confusion in the secondary and linebacking corps on play after play, the look of confusion on the faces of his defense may be best summed up as the Cover Who?
Lovie Smith has been exposed. The only questions left are: Does Bears management understand this? And if so, what will they do about it?
Smith came to Chicago in the infancy of the popularity of the Cover Two defense. Back then it was known as the Tampa Two and was run by Smith successfully in Tampa Bay and in St. Louis. The Bears got a hot commodity in Smith and during the hey-day of the Cover 2 scheme, he was a great coach. The problem is that if you give innovative coaches enough time and let personnel men get enough players in their systems to defeat a certain defense, it will fail.
Quarterbacks learn tendencies. Coaches find weaknesses. Eventually, every scheme becomes beatable. The Cover Two baffled Brett Favre for a long time, but not anymore judging by the Vikings almost 550 yards of total offense in the game Sunday against the Bears. Smith has been exposed as a one-trick pony. His blitz packages rarely find holes, his base scheme is exposed and undermanned and what changes has he made?
None.
He sticks to the scheme. He believes in it. He knows it can work and doesn’t understand why it would stop working. Square peg, meet round hole. After every embarrassing loss Smith gives the same old tired refrain. He’ll look at the tape and make improvements and hopefully this will help us get better. What adjustments has he made though? What has he actively done to right the many wrongs? Nothing.
The problem is that Smith isn’t and never has been an innovator. He took what he learned in Tampa Bay under Tony Dungy and applied it as the Rams defensive coordinator. That team’s success got him hired as the Bears coach and he applied the same formula to this team. It hasn’t all been failure, obviously. Smith’s defenses have been dominant during his tenure, but he is, was and always will be a system coach. When defensive coordinator Ron Rivera wanted to change things, add his own imprint to the defense, Smith fought him. Under Rivera, who actually did manage to get his players to the quarterback when he blitzed, the defense was able to remain near the top in the league. Rivera mixed up blitz packages and other defensive looks along with the Cover Two. Smith didn’t like that though. Even though the Defense was successful under Rivera, Smith sent him packing and placed his friend Bob Babich in his place.
It’s been all down hill since then. Smith and Babich and this year’s new guru Rod Marinelli (who didn’t win a single game last year with Detroit but was suddenly supposed to be the answer to the Bears defensive problems) are all system guys. They are all Cover Two guys. They are all former Tampa Two guys. None of them were innovators. They are all replicators, and they are replicating a beaten horse.
The question now is will Smith overhaul his staff again and allow fresh thinking and new ideas into the mix? Will he hire an innovator to coordinate the defense under him, or will he insist on trying to beat teams of the Twenty-Tens with a defense from the Nineties?
The problem with surrounding yourself with yes-men is that if you aren’t challenged, you get stale. Lovie is stale. His defense is stale. Yesterday’s news, yesterday’s scheme, and yesterday’s coach—the world is made up of the quick and the dead. It doesn’t take an innovator to figure out which the Bears and Smith might be.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Putting the Echos Back to Sleep
I knew this would be Charlie Weis’ last year at Notre Dame after listening to him in a post-game interview after their first game, a convincing victory over Nevada. He was humble and cordial and polite to the sideline reporter who interviewed him. In other words, he had changed.
It’s become a theme now. After every game, win or lose, he hobbles off the field and gives a humble, polite interview. Even when asked stupid questions, he doesn’t glare through the interviewer and roll his eyes, he answers them in as non-confrontational a way as he possibly can and moves on.
Of course, this has been a criticism of him since he came to Notre Dame. He was arrogant, cocky and antagonistic. Like his mentor, Bill Belichick the coach of the New England Patriots, he seemed to sneer, glare and grumble through his mandatory press appearances. People didn’t like this and let it be known.
And Weis, in a concession to those who didn’t like his arrogance and curt nature, changed. It may seem like a small thing, but that was the point when it became obvious that Charlie Weis was not the answer to Notre Dame’s coaching problem. Say what you will about his record against ranked teams, his failure in bowl games and the fact that he’s now lost to Navy two years in a row after not having lost to them once in decades. Those issues were not insurmountable for the real Charlie Weis, which isn’t to say he would have come out on top, but he won’t even have a chance now, and he doesn’t deserve one.
It was all there in the way he interviewed. He was making concessions. He was trying to please. He was conscious of what people outside his locker room were thinking and saying. That was the beginning of what will surely be his end in South Bend.
Coaching a team isn’t an easy task and the best of coaches drown out what anyone outside his locker room has to say about anything that involves the team. A good coach is the master and commander of his ship and the moment he starts listening to others about how to steer it, he will find that he loses the way.
Weis came into this year with the best team he’s had since his first seasons at the school. He came into this year with a chance to quiet his critics and put Notre Dame back on the path to it’s rightful place among the college football elite. If he had stayed focused and true to himself, his style, his way and his belief, he may have done it.
You can only shut out the shadows and whispers so long though. And once you acknowledge them, you see them everywhere and they hunt you relentlessly. The results were the little changes that his team has certainly perceived. They have made all the difference. And now, they’ve signaled the end. So long Charlie. If you ever get your chance again, try to remember: If an arrogant prick is what you are, then be that, own it and don’t let anyone take it away from you because who you were is what got you the job. Who you became is why you’ll lose it.
It’s become a theme now. After every game, win or lose, he hobbles off the field and gives a humble, polite interview. Even when asked stupid questions, he doesn’t glare through the interviewer and roll his eyes, he answers them in as non-confrontational a way as he possibly can and moves on.
Of course, this has been a criticism of him since he came to Notre Dame. He was arrogant, cocky and antagonistic. Like his mentor, Bill Belichick the coach of the New England Patriots, he seemed to sneer, glare and grumble through his mandatory press appearances. People didn’t like this and let it be known.
And Weis, in a concession to those who didn’t like his arrogance and curt nature, changed. It may seem like a small thing, but that was the point when it became obvious that Charlie Weis was not the answer to Notre Dame’s coaching problem. Say what you will about his record against ranked teams, his failure in bowl games and the fact that he’s now lost to Navy two years in a row after not having lost to them once in decades. Those issues were not insurmountable for the real Charlie Weis, which isn’t to say he would have come out on top, but he won’t even have a chance now, and he doesn’t deserve one.
It was all there in the way he interviewed. He was making concessions. He was trying to please. He was conscious of what people outside his locker room were thinking and saying. That was the beginning of what will surely be his end in South Bend.
Coaching a team isn’t an easy task and the best of coaches drown out what anyone outside his locker room has to say about anything that involves the team. A good coach is the master and commander of his ship and the moment he starts listening to others about how to steer it, he will find that he loses the way.
Weis came into this year with the best team he’s had since his first seasons at the school. He came into this year with a chance to quiet his critics and put Notre Dame back on the path to it’s rightful place among the college football elite. If he had stayed focused and true to himself, his style, his way and his belief, he may have done it.
You can only shut out the shadows and whispers so long though. And once you acknowledge them, you see them everywhere and they hunt you relentlessly. The results were the little changes that his team has certainly perceived. They have made all the difference. And now, they’ve signaled the end. So long Charlie. If you ever get your chance again, try to remember: If an arrogant prick is what you are, then be that, own it and don’t let anyone take it away from you because who you were is what got you the job. Who you became is why you’ll lose it.
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Chicago Bores
Apathy. That’s really the only way to describe the attitude of the Chicago Bears these past few weeks. They play like men possessed…by apathy. Say what you will, but when a team starts playing in a lethargic manner all eyes must turn to the head coach.
Lovie Smith is oft praised for his calm, cool demeanor. He never gets too high after a win and never gets too down after a loss and in a lot of ways, it’s very comforting to have a coach who is so steady and even keeled. A coach like Smith can keep you from getting a big head when you’re doing well, and when things go poorly, he can keep you from panicking.
The problem is that in the world of athletics, there comes a point when a coach, even an even keeled, level-headed, players coach like Lovie must be free and able to let loose and howl at the moon. Lovie Smith though, so concerned with being a class act, so concerned with his players feelings is ill-equipped to do so. He just doesn’t seem to have it in him.
The problem with such a serene approach to coaching is that it involves no sense of urgency and these are urgent times. This past Sunday was the time for the Bears to either stand up and be recognized as a contender or step aside and show that they are merely pretenders. They never got that memo.
They came. They saw. They lost. And to a man, with the exception of Alex Brown who got a little fired up in his postgame interview, they all used tired old cliché’s about how they had to put this one behind them and get ready for the game on Thursday night against an old fireplug of a Chicago Bear, Mike Singletary and his resurgent San Francisco 49ers.
A team takes on the persona of it’s coach. A good leader knows that persona needs to change and evolve based on the needs of his team. This team seems unconcerned, unflappable about recent embarrassing losses to Cincinnati and now Arizona. Not even two losses of more than 20 points within a three week period is going to harsh their mellow. To a man, they believe they can turn it all around, which is all fine and well, except that they don’t seem to understand that while they continue to hang around confidently, the rest of the league is pulling away.
It’s not all Smith’s fault though. General Manager Jerry Angelo has masterfully pieced together a roster that makes taupe walls look exciting. Gone is every rabble-rouser, every fireplug, every voice of dissent. We’re left with a team of professionals who fall into line, quietly and obediently behind their quiet and obedient coach. A coach like Smith can prosper only if he has veteran players who are vocal leaders. Where is the frustration from these players? Why is it that after getting whooped they all seem to interview with a “happy just to be here” kind of attitude?
By all reports, the players like Lovie Smith a great deal. They all seem to respect him as well. He doesn’t seem overly concerned about their recent poor play, so why should they be? It’s all fine and well to have your players like and respect you, but when it’s all said and done, there won’t be 53 pink slips handed out, only one. Smith’s zen-like refusal to get riled up is rightfully going to cost him his job.
Good riddance.
The only part of this team with any life, any emotion at all are the members of what Lovie likes to call the 4th Phase. There’s the offense, the defense, the special teams and then the 4th Phase—we the fans. And we’re lucky enough to be far enough removed from the team so as not to be served the Kool-aid that Smith seems to be giving the rest of the team. Everything is not going to be alright. We can’t just put it behind us and focus on the next one. The time for action is NOW.
That action starts with saying goodbye to Smith and the $10 million paycheck he’s guaranteed to earn over the next two years. A real leader is a chameleon. He is not just one thing and one thing always. He is what he is required to be whenever the need arises. Mother, father, priest, counselor and yes, he must at times put his foot down and scream that enough is enough.
When they let Ditka go, there was a famous scene with him yelling to reporters from a second story window, he was defiant until the end—like his teams. There will be no such fanfare when Lovie goes. He’ll smile, thank everyone for the opportunity and knowing deep down that everything will be alright—he will saunter on to whatever comes next. Ironically, his team has already started.
Lovie Smith is oft praised for his calm, cool demeanor. He never gets too high after a win and never gets too down after a loss and in a lot of ways, it’s very comforting to have a coach who is so steady and even keeled. A coach like Smith can keep you from getting a big head when you’re doing well, and when things go poorly, he can keep you from panicking.
The problem is that in the world of athletics, there comes a point when a coach, even an even keeled, level-headed, players coach like Lovie must be free and able to let loose and howl at the moon. Lovie Smith though, so concerned with being a class act, so concerned with his players feelings is ill-equipped to do so. He just doesn’t seem to have it in him.
The problem with such a serene approach to coaching is that it involves no sense of urgency and these are urgent times. This past Sunday was the time for the Bears to either stand up and be recognized as a contender or step aside and show that they are merely pretenders. They never got that memo.
They came. They saw. They lost. And to a man, with the exception of Alex Brown who got a little fired up in his postgame interview, they all used tired old cliché’s about how they had to put this one behind them and get ready for the game on Thursday night against an old fireplug of a Chicago Bear, Mike Singletary and his resurgent San Francisco 49ers.
A team takes on the persona of it’s coach. A good leader knows that persona needs to change and evolve based on the needs of his team. This team seems unconcerned, unflappable about recent embarrassing losses to Cincinnati and now Arizona. Not even two losses of more than 20 points within a three week period is going to harsh their mellow. To a man, they believe they can turn it all around, which is all fine and well, except that they don’t seem to understand that while they continue to hang around confidently, the rest of the league is pulling away.
It’s not all Smith’s fault though. General Manager Jerry Angelo has masterfully pieced together a roster that makes taupe walls look exciting. Gone is every rabble-rouser, every fireplug, every voice of dissent. We’re left with a team of professionals who fall into line, quietly and obediently behind their quiet and obedient coach. A coach like Smith can prosper only if he has veteran players who are vocal leaders. Where is the frustration from these players? Why is it that after getting whooped they all seem to interview with a “happy just to be here” kind of attitude?
By all reports, the players like Lovie Smith a great deal. They all seem to respect him as well. He doesn’t seem overly concerned about their recent poor play, so why should they be? It’s all fine and well to have your players like and respect you, but when it’s all said and done, there won’t be 53 pink slips handed out, only one. Smith’s zen-like refusal to get riled up is rightfully going to cost him his job.
Good riddance.
The only part of this team with any life, any emotion at all are the members of what Lovie likes to call the 4th Phase. There’s the offense, the defense, the special teams and then the 4th Phase—we the fans. And we’re lucky enough to be far enough removed from the team so as not to be served the Kool-aid that Smith seems to be giving the rest of the team. Everything is not going to be alright. We can’t just put it behind us and focus on the next one. The time for action is NOW.
That action starts with saying goodbye to Smith and the $10 million paycheck he’s guaranteed to earn over the next two years. A real leader is a chameleon. He is not just one thing and one thing always. He is what he is required to be whenever the need arises. Mother, father, priest, counselor and yes, he must at times put his foot down and scream that enough is enough.
When they let Ditka go, there was a famous scene with him yelling to reporters from a second story window, he was defiant until the end—like his teams. There will be no such fanfare when Lovie goes. He’ll smile, thank everyone for the opportunity and knowing deep down that everything will be alright—he will saunter on to whatever comes next. Ironically, his team has already started.
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