Chicago Bears Show Love, Bring Back Lovie Smith

The Chicago Bears are bringing head coach Lovie Smith back for a seventh season.

But the team fired offensive coordinator Ron Turner and five other coaches on that side of the ball Tuesday after going 7-9 with Jay Cutler at quarterback and missing the playoffs for the third straight year following a Super Bowl run.

“This has been a frustrating season to say the least. We’ve had inconsistent play on both sides of the ball,” team president and CEO Ted Phillips said. “Personally, it’s been the most frustrating year since I’ve been here.”

He added: “The last three years, it’s been clear nobody did a good enough job in the organization. Nobody did.”

The Bears had problems on offense and defense and fell far short of expectations after the blockbuster trade with Denver for Cutler. But instead of bringing in a big-name coach like Bill Cowher, the Bears stuck with Smith, who has two years and $11 million left on his contract.

His staff, however, will look much different next season.

Turner’s second stint as Chicago’s offensive coordinator lasted five years, a run that included two playoff appearances but ended with the Bears ranked 23rd in yards per game and 29th in rushing. A frosty relationship with Cutler probably didn’t help, either.

Also fired were coaches Pep Hamilton (quarterbacks), Rob Boras (tight ends), Harry Hiestand (line), and assistants Luke Butkus and Charles London.

The Bears dropped eight of 10 following a 3-1 start, and as the losses mounted, so did speculation about Smith’s job status. General manager Jerry Angelo at one point refused to say that Smith would be back while insisting there was no need for a roster overhaul.

After finishing the season with wins over NFC North champion Minnesota and Detroit, Smith has a a 52-44 record since replacing Dick Jauron before the 2004 season.

Chicago went from 11 losses to 11 wins in their first two years under Smith, who was St. Louis’ defensive coordinator, before going 13-3 in 2006 and making a run to the Super Bowl. Since then, the Bears are 23-25 and have finished below .500 twice.

The problems this year were well-documented.

Cutler was often scrambling for his life behind a struggling line and threw 26 interceptions, the most by a Bears quarterback since Sid Luckman’s club record 31 in 1947 and the most in the NFL since Brett Favre threw 29 for Green Bay in 2005. He was under pressure, but he also made bad decisions while running back Matt Forte faltered after a promising rookie season.

There were a few positives, though.

Cutler’s 3,666 yards passing were second-most by a Bears quarterback behind Erik Kramer’s 3,838 in 1995, and an inexperienced receiving corps showed some promise. Johnny Knox ranked seventh among rookies with 45 catches for 527 yards and Devin Aromashodu came on strong over the final month and finished with 298 yards.

On the line, there are decisions to make involving center Olin Kreutz and tackle Orlando Pace, both veterans.

While the hammer fell on Turner, the defense wasn’t much better even with Smith as the de facto coordinator after stripping the play-calling duties from Bob Babich, who officially still held the title while serving as linebackers coach.

The Bears lost star linebacker Brian Urlacher to a season-ending injury in the opener at Green Bay, a big loss for a team that was hoping to contend in the NFC, and the defense never showed the dominant form that led Chicago to the playoffs in 2005 and 2006. They were 17th in yards allowed, 27th in third-down conversions allowed and 21st in scoring.