Chicago Bears: Franchise defining moments of the 2010s
By Usayd Koshul
5. The firing of Lovie Smith
Another controversial decision, the Bears opted to fire Lovie Smith after the Bears finished the 2012 season at 10-6 but ended up missing the playoffs. Smith’s tenure in Chicago would see him win 81 games and lose just 63.
However, the expectations going into 2012 were playoffs or bust. And because the Bears didn’t make the playoffs, Smith was fired and it eventually led to some uncertainty about who the Bears next head coach would be.
What makes this such a significant moment is the fact that the Bears opted to replace Smith with Marc Trestman, who we’ve already discussed. Additionally, had Smith been given another season, there’s a lot that could have changed many things that happened to the Bears franchise during the second half of the 2019 season.
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The reality is that with Smith, players like Brian Urlacher and Charles Tillman at least respected him and wanted to play for him. He was never perfect by any means however he still did enough to lead the Bears to respectable records each year. The peak of the Smith era was a Super Bowl appearance in 2006 that would see the Bears get back to the NFL’s biggest stage after nearly two decades but still lose to the Indianapolis Colts.