Chicago Bears: Revisiting the career of Lovie Smith, why he was fired

In 2012, Smith was on the hot seat. After the first eight games, his job looked to be safe. The team was 7-1 but Cutler just got hurt in their previous game against the Texans. Cutler would return a week later after a blowout loss to the 49ers.

In Cutler’s return game against the Vikings, the team won 28-10. At 8-2, the playoffs were almost guaranteed. The team would lose three straight games that were all on possession games, leaving them at 8-6.

The last two games of the season were must win to make the playoffs. The team did just that. After starting 7-1, the 2012 Bears finished 10-6. The only way they could make the playoffs was if the Packers could beat the Vikings Week 17. Everyone knows the story, the Vikings shocked the Packers in overtime to take the wildcard spot.

That game marked the sixth time in Smith’s career the team failed to qualify for the playoffs. After nine seasons as the Bears’ head coach, Smith was fired. Smith was 81-63 (3-3 in the playoffs) as the Bears’ coach.

The question is, why did the Bears fire a coach after finishing 10-6? His past performances. In 2011, the team started 7-3 and missed the playoffs. In 2012, the team started 7-1 and missed the playoffs. There isn’t a good reason to keep a coach after collapsing two straight years in a row. There were excuses for 2011, there were none for 2012.

The coaches hired after Smith weren’t the best choices though. Marc Trestman was a bust and John Fox was there to help rebuild the defense. Fox would have been a great coach under different circumstances. It just wasn’t in the cards for Fox.

That leaves us here, the last day of the 2010s. The current Bears’ coach is Matt Nagy and he goes into 2020 on the hot seat. If the team misses the playoffs and doesn’t improve, he might be fired too.

Do you believe Lovie Smith should have been fired after a 10-6 season? Why or why not?