LOVIE'S DEFENSIVE SCHEME: "A FOOLISH CONSISTENCY"

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds …” Ralph Waldo Emerson

In talking about his search for a defensive coordinator, Lovie made it obvious that he remains committed to his foolish consistency.  He said - "Changing schemes and all that, I think you have to stay with what you believe in,"  He also said  - ''The person that is coming in, I would like for him to have some of the similar beliefs that I have,''

Yet, Lovie says he wants to bring in a defensive coordinator, a "friend" who will "fix the defense".  News flash Lovie, you're the guy who broke it and you apparently intend to maintain the status quo.  So as I see it, the only way to "fix" the defense is to eliminate your influence.

Lovie doesn’t need a “friend” another “yes” man.  He needs a proven defensive coordinator who will challenge him, shake things up, who will put the fire back into his defensive players.  Lovie needs to empower such a man and get out of the way.  Why?  Since Lovie fired Rivera, installed his defensive scheme and promoted Babich, a once proud, intimidating defense has been reduced to mediocrity; to two 7-9 seasons and no playoff appearances over three consecutive years. 

I examined NFL team rankings for key defensive categories for the past 6 years, 3 years with Ron Rivera as defensive coordinator and the subsequent 3 years under Bob Babich.  I looked at the NFL team defensive rankings for points, yards, and first downs allowed, as well as for sacks, interceptions, fumbles forced, and defensive points scored.   The following statistics and rankings relate to the “key” defensive categories described in this paragraph.

Lovie fired Ron Rivera who had led the Bears to a defensive ranking of 3rd in the NFL, and replaced him with “a friend” Bob Babich who apparently had not one down of experience as a defensive coordinator and who orchestrated an immediate plunge of the defense, under Lovie's guidance, to 19th in the NFL where it has remained for the past 3 years.  In his three years as defensive coordinator, Rivera’s defense never dipped below 8th in the league and finished the 2006 season 3rd.

Another way of looking at this, the Bears defense went from being better than 90% of the league in 2006, to being better than just 40% since.

Did Jerry Angelo or Lovie Smith learn anything?  In replacing Rivera with Babich, Lovie broke the first rule of effective leadership, “never hire beneath you, always hire someone smarter, with more talent and role experience than you, willing to challenge you, then empower and manage them”.  Lovie is about ready to break that rule again; to remain foolishly consistent!  And Jerry Angelo appears to be onboard.

As a Bears fan of 40 years, I’ve learned to take seasons that fail to live up to expectations in stride.  However, over the past 3 years, I’ve been a bit more frustrated by what I see as the squandering of a very talented group of players who are in their prime, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  I feel for these players.  Because of Lovie's foolish consistency, their talents will continue to be squandered and they’ll likely pass their prime without realizing the success they deserve.  That is of course as long as they remain with the Bears.