HEADLINES

Lovie Smith

2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

February 6th, 2022 at 10:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Last year, seven NFL teams opted to make a head coaching change. Sean Payton stepping away from the Saints created nine full-time vacancies available this year.

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 2-7-22 (1:45pm CT)

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Texans Considering Lovie Smith For HC

February 6th, 2022 at 8:36pm CST by Ely Allen

Despite reports that the Texans had narrowed their list of candidates down to journeyman quarterback Josh McCown and former Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores, Adam Schefter of ESPN has reported that current defensive coordinator and associate head coach Lovie Smith is now in talks with Houston about potentially becoming their next head coach. Smith interviewed with the team earlier tonight, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. This is the second time Smith has been considered for the Texans’ head coach position, the first time being when he interviewed with the team in December 2013 prior to accepting the head coaching job in Tampa Bay. 

Smith has spent 16 of the last 18 years as a head coach at some level. After three years of coaching at the high school level, Smith spent the next 13 years bouncing around the NCAA as a position coach with stops at Tulsa, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio State. He accepted a job as the Buccaneers’ linebackers coach in 1996 and, after five seasons in Tampa Bay, was hired as the defensive coordinator of the Rams. Smith took the St. Louis defense from a league-worst 29.4 points per game to seventh in the league allowing 17.1 points per game in his first year leading the defense.

Smith soon earned the head coaching job for the Bears in 2004. Despite losing starting quarterback Rex Grossman to injury for most of the 2005 season, the Bears would get a first round bye in the playoffs as the NFC’s number two-seed in Lovie’s second year as head coach, winning Smith the AP NFL Coach of the Year Award. In 2006, the Bears were the NFC’s number one-seed, owning the NFL’s second-ranked scoring offense and fifth-ranked overall defense. In his third season as an NFL head coach, Smith became the first Black head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl, and the second minority head coach after Tom Flores.

The next six years saw the Bears miss the playoffs five times despite only two losing seasons and never finishing with a record worse than 7-9. Smith was fired after failing to reach the playoffs in the 2012 season despite finishing with a record of 10-6, the last winning season the Bears would see until 2018.

After a year hiatus from the NFL, Smith was brought in to replace Greg Schiano in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers went 2-14 and 6-10 in Smith’s first two seasons and Smith was fired with three years remaining on his contract.

After Tampa Bay, Smith accepted the job of head coach at the University of Illinois. A perennial basement-dweller in the Big Ten, Smith amassed a 17-39 record in five seasons at Illinois. In 2019, he did lead the Fighting Illini to their first bowl game appearance since 2014, but was fired the next year after starting the season 2-5.

Following his stint in college football, Smith was hired by Houston in March of 2021 in his current role under rookie head coach David Culley, returning to the NFL after a 5 year hiatus. Smith did improve the Texans’ defense from ranking 30th in defensive DVOA in 2020 to 23rd in 2021, but Houston was not one of the league’s better defensive units.

Schefter reported that Smith was always included in the Texans’ discussions, but his candidacy for head coach didn’t start gaining momentum until very recently. The consensus in the media is that, along with this revived interest in Smith, McCown is no longer being considered for the position, as Schefter, Rapoport, and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero have all tweeted as much.

It looks, for now, as if Brian Flores and Lovie Smith are the two candidates the Texans are focusing on for the position moving forward, unless any more surprise candidates find their way into contention. Be sure to follow our 2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker to keep up with updates to the remaining open positions.

Texans, Lovie Smith Finalize DC Deal

January 29th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Texans will move forward with former Bears and Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith as their defensive coordinator. The sides agreed to terms on a deal Friday afternoon, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

This was the expected move, and it will allow Smith to return to the NFL for the first time since the Bucs fired him following the 2015 season. Smith spent the past five seasons as head coach at the University of Illinois. He has been in Houston since Wednesday, per the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson.

Smith, 62, and new Texans HC David Culley have not coached together in the pros before, but the former obviously brings many years of experience leading defenses. Smith has been a head coach or defensive coordinator at the NFL level in 15 seasons. He last served as a team’s DC with the Rams, doing so from 2001-03.

Although Smith was HC with Tampa Bay for two seasons, he is best known for his run in Chicago. The Bears built a dominant defense under Smith in the mid-2000s, riding that unit’s talents to Super Bowl XLI. Chicago ranked outside the top 20 in scoring defense in the two years prior to Smith’s arrival; the Bears were a top-three unit in 2005 and ’06 and finished as such four times during Smith’s nine-season tenure. Smith also was present for a dramatic Rams rise, overseeing the St. Louis defense’s climb from last in scoring defense in 2000 to seventh during the team’s 2001 Super Bowl season.

Smith’s Bucs defenses were not as successful. Each ranked outside the top 20. His five-season run at Illinois also ended with a 2020 firing. The Fighting Illini did not post a winning season under Smith, who is 89-87 as an NFL HC.

The Texans ranked 30th in defensive DVOA last season. Houston’s defense has struggled for a bit now, declining rapidly over the past two seasons. It is uncertain how much help the Texans’ new defensive play-caller will receive, however, with the team lacking first- and second-round draft picks (for now) and having future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt as a trade candidate.

Texans Eyeing Lovie Smith, Josh McCown For Staff

January 28th, 2021 at 11:04am CST by Zachary Links

The Texans’ quarterback situation is in flux, but their staff is coming together, at least. After agreeing to hire David Culley as their new head coach, the Texans are now eyeing former Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith and longtime NFL quarterback Josh McCown for assistant coaching roles (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of NFL.com). 

[RELATED: Deshaun Watson Officially Requests Trade]

Smith seems to be the team’s leading candidate for the defensive coordinator vacancy. McCown, meanwhile, would help out on the other side of the ball, though it doesn’t sound like he’d jump straight to offensive coordinator. That job, barring any changes, will continue to be occupied by offensive coordinator Tim Kelly. Kelly has drawn interest from around the league, but the Texans have denied every interview request.

McCown & Co. will have the unenviable task of remaking the offense without Deshaun Watson under center. The Texans were hoping to work things out, but his mind is made up — the QB wants a trade, and he appears to be targeting the Jets or Dolphins as his landing spot. Watson is uniquely positioned to dictate his destination, thanks to his no-trade clause.

On defense, the Texans could do the unthinkable and part ways with edge rusher J.J. Watt. The face of the franchise has one year to go on his deal with a $17.5MM cap hit. If the Texans are truly looking to reboot things, they could trade their two biggest stars to replenish their depleted draft stock.

Lovie Smith To Coach University Of Illinois

March 7th, 2016 at 8:02am CST by Zachary Links

Lovie Smith is the new coach of the Fighting Illini, the University of Illinois has announced. Smith will take over the program on a contract that will pay him $21MM over six years, per the team’s press release. Smith’s contract at Illinois is back-loaded so the Buccaneers will save $4MM and still owe him $6MM after his firing, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Lovie Smith (vertical)

“I am extremely excited to be named head coach of the Fighting Illini,” Smith said. “Josh approached me about this possibility, and I immediately seized on the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the young men who are part of the program today and in the future. I take this responsibility very seriously and can’t wait to get a staff in place to start our move to make Illinois a contender for Big Ten titles. We will play an exciting brand of football that will make our fans, alumni, student body and members of the University community extremely proud.”

In January, the Buccaneers fired Smith, a move that surprised many. Smith’s Bucs went 6-10 in 2015 but after he survived the calendar year, most observers assumed that his job was safe. Ultimately, the Bucs did not want to lose hot head coaching candidate Dirk Koetter to another team, so they fired Smith and elevated Koetter in his place.

As the press release notes, Smith is now the second coach to go straight from head coach in the NFL to head coach at Champaign-Urbana after John Mackovic made the move in 1988, going from the Chiefs to the Fighting Illini.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

South Notes: Lovie, Bucs, Mankins, Norman

March 5th, 2016 at 7:21pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Former Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith is expected to become the new head coach at the University of Illinois, according to Ryan Baker of CBS Chicago (Twitter link). Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports has also confirmed the likely hire. Smith’s move back to the state of Illinois — where he coached the Bears for nine seasons — has repercussions in Tampa Bay, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter link) that Smith’s contract with the Bucs contained offset language pertaining to any football job, not just those in the NFL. Therefore, Tampa is likely to going to recoup some of the $10MM it owes to Smith under the terms of his old deal.

Let’s take a look at more out from Tampa Bay and the NFL’s other South division clubs…

  • Free agent offensive lineman Nate Chandler was released by the Panthers earlier this week, but he’s now getting attention from another NFC South team, as Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Buccaneers are interested in Chandler. As Auman writes, Tampa’s interest in Chandler — who can play both tackle and guard — could be a sign that the club expects veteran Logan Mankins to retire. Mankins hasn’t yet made a final decision, per Auman, but he will let the Bucs know his choice before free agency starts.
  • Panthers cornerback Josh Norman isn’t going to accept a long-term deal that he considers to be below his market value, and he’s fine with playing out the season on the franchise tag, writes Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer. Norman won’t accept a hometown discount, as he tells Jones, but he dispensed with any notion that he would hold out of training camp in an attempt to spur Carolina into offering more money.
  • Safety Earl Wolff, who signed a futures contract with the Jaguars in January, was abducted by a group of armed men in Fayetteville, North Carolina on February 23, according to Thomas Pope of the Fayetteville Observer. Wolff was released unharmed, and one of alleged kidnappers was arrested on Wednesday.

NFC North Notes: Megatron, Bears, Packers

February 6th, 2016 at 3:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ron Rivera‘s path to the Panthers emerged when he and Lovie Smith ended a contentious relationship in three seasons working together in Chicago. The former Bears coach didn’t renew the former Bears defensive coordinator’s contract after the duo helped the Bears to Super Bowl XLI during the 2006 season, largely due to philosophical and personal differences, Austin Murphy of SI.com reports.

Smith preferred then-Buccaneers assistant head coach Rod Marinelli for the job upon being hired as Bears coach in 2004, but, per Murphy, Rivera was mandated by then-Chicago GM Jerry Angelo.

The former Bears player under blitz-happy Buddy Ryan, Rivera wanted a blitz-heavy scheme, whereas Smith was a Tampa-2 proponent. Murphy also asserts Rivera’s eight interviews for head-coaching positions while employed as Bears DC were potentially seen as disloyal by Smith.

When Rivera became the Chargers’ linebackers coach in 2007 after Smith denied him a fourth season running the Bears’ defense, he and Smith were on bad terms, a Bears source told Murphy. The 54-year-old Rivera served three years as San Diego’s DC before accepting Carolina’s top coaching job.

Here are some more items from the NFC North on the eve of Super Bowl 50.

  • The Bears should let Matt Forte walk while re-signing Alshon Jeffery and Zach Miller, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap notes in his analysis of the Bears’ cap situation. Also advising the Bears to orchestrate an extension with Kyle Long after they pick up the tackle’s fifth-year option, Fitzgerald recommends the Bears cut Martellus Bennett and gauge Lamarr Houston‘s trade value. Bennett would save Chicago $5.2MM, and Houston, entering his seventh season, will net the Bears $4MM in cap savings if released. Brought in to play in a 4-3 scheme, Houston graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 62-ranked edge defender as an outside linebacker in Vic Fangio‘s 3-4.
  • Calvin Johnson‘s impromptu retirement could be a negotiating ploy a la Adrian Peterson‘s trade request last year, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. The Lions will need to know Johnson’s official intentions on his future by March 9, when his $16MM base salary and $24MM cap number are configured into Detroit’s 2016 salary cap. Florio speculates Johnson could have threatened to retire to force the Lions to appreciate his presence rather than insist he renegotiate that massive cap figure. Peterson ended up receiving additional guaranteed money, instead of the Vikings potentially attempting at reducing his salary, Florio offers.
  • Randall Cobb‘s punctured lung sustained against the Cardinals could have been an effect of him being mic’d up by NFL Films, the slot receiver and the Packers medical staff theorize (via Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). “I punctured a lung. I didn’t break a rib and I didn’t fracture a rib. It’s really abnormal for that to happen,” Cobb told radio host Bill Michaels in San Francisco. “But I was mic’d up for the game. I landed flush on my back. The battery pack was on my shoulder pads and I landed flush on my back and we think that possibly could be it but there’s no way of proving it.” Cobb, who left the divisional playoff game after injuring himself on a spectacular catch that ended up being nullified by penalty, will enter the season season of the four-year deal he signed last March.
  • Casey Hayward hired the same agent, David Mulugheta, used by fellow Packers DBs Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Quinten Rollins, Rand Getlin of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). Hayward is one of Green Bay’s top free agents.

Extra Points: Dolphins, H. Jackson, Bucs, Texans

January 9th, 2016 at 10:37pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Before hiring Adam Gase as their head coach Saturday, the Dolphins considered several other candidates. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald passes along some interesting information on a handful of those names.

The Dolphins interviewed ex-Falcons head coach Mike Smith, but they felt he lacked “some of the gravitas” for the position. In Mike Shanahan‘s case, Miami’s bigwigs were worried that too many of the two-time Super Bowl winner’s potential assistants had jobs elsewhere, which would’ve negatively affected his ability to assemble a staff. They also had concern about whether Shanahan would be prone to complacency. The Dolphins discussed the idea of pursuing another two-time champion, Tom Coughlin, but they decided the soon-to-be 70-year-old was too advanced in age to factor into their long-term plans. Dan Campbell, the Dolphins’ interim head coach for most of the 2015-16 campaign, was the runner-up to Gase. The team simply didn’t think he was ready for the full-time job. Doug Marrone came in third place, largely because his plan for quarterback Ryan Tannehill wasn’t as enticing as Gase’s.

Tannehill didn’t have the belief of ex-head coach Joe Philbin, Salguero offers, but the Dolphins are confident the relationship between him and Gase will bear more fruit.

“We’re convinced you’ll see a different Ryan Tannehill next year,” a team source told Salguero. “That’s how much Adam will affect things around here.”

More from around the NFL:

  • Although a report Friday stated that Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is in the lead for the 49ers’ head coaching job, they’ll have serious competition for his services from the Browns, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Jackson will enter his Sunday interview with the Browns viewing them and the 49ers on a level playing field, per Cabot, who notes that other teams with head coaching vacancies could join them in trying to land the 50-year-old. As our head coaching search tracker shows, the only other current opening that Jackson has been connected to is the Giants’, though they haven’t requested a meeting with him at this time.
  • Dirk Koetter isn’t the prohibitive favorite to land the Buccaneers’ head coaching job, and they didn’t fire Lovie Smith because they were worried about losing Koetter, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The Bucs canned Smith because their ownership was fed up with his ability (or lack thereof) to build a quality coaching staff, his struggles with repairing their defense, and his uninspiring work when it came to putting together the 53-man roster. General manager Jason Licht believes the team will find a capable replacement for Smith. “It’s an excellent situation,” he said. “I’ve already been shown from the interest we’ve received that people want to come to Tampa and coach.”
  • After quarterback Brian Hoyer‘s five-turnover performance in the Texans’ 30-0 wild-card round loss to Kansas City on Saturday, Houston could look for a better option under center this offseason. With that in mind, Mike Sando of ESPN.com examined which roads the Texans might take in the coming months (Insider required). Draft-bound Penn State signal caller Christian Hackenberg, whom Texans coach Bill O’Brien recruited when he was at the helm of the Nittany Lions, is an obvious option. Otherwise, Sando lists Colin Kaepernick and free agent-to-be Sam Bradford as possible fits for the Texans.

Coach Rumors: Giants, L. Smith, Bucs, Dolphins

January 8th, 2016 at 5:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked today on The Michael Kay Show if the Giants will consider Lovie Smith for their head coaching opening, team co-owner John Mara said he’s “certainly aware” the former Buccaneers head coach is available. According to Mara, he’ll talk to his fellow decision-makers about Smith, but he isn’t sure yet whether the club will try to bring him in (Twitter links via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News).

For now, New York is targeting highly-regarded assistants, having interviewed their own coordinators, as well as Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

Here are a few more coaching-related updates from around the NFL:

  • Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets that he would be “very surprised” if former Falcons head coach Mike Smith doesn’t emerge as a strong candidate for the Buccaneers‘ vacancy. Smith interviewed with the Dolphins this week and has been mentioned as possible candidate for the Titans as well.
  • According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), the Dolphins would’ve been one of the teams – along with the Eagles – that had interest in John Harbaugh if he became available, but Harbaugh isn’t going anywhere. The Dolphins continued their head coaching search today by interviewing Dan Campbell and, per a team release, Doug Marrone.
  • The Jaguars will interview Falcons secondary coach Marquand Manuel for their defensive coordinator job, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). ESPN’s Vaughn McClure tweets that the meeting will take place on Tuesday.
  • As first reported by Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (Twitter links), linebackers coach Jeff FitzGerald was fired by the Colts today. Indianapolis hired a new defensive coordinator this week, bringing in former Ravens linebackers coach Ted Monachino, so it looks like he has already started making changes to the unit.
  • Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the ball, the Colts are interviewing John Benton (Dolphins), Pat Flaherty (Giants), and Chris Foerster (49ers) for their offensive line coach position, tweets Marvez.

Bucs Notes: Lovie Smith, Koetter, Licht

January 7th, 2016 at 2:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The Buccaneers’ firing of head coach Lovie Smith on Wednesday evening shocked the NFL world, but general manager Jason Licht explained today to reporters that he didn’t think the team had been impatient with Smith.

“I think when you have eight wins in two years, three home wins in two years, we’ve been patient enough,” Licht said, per Jenna Laine of Sports Talk Florida (Twitter link).

The Bucs GM made a few more comments of note during his session with reporters today, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights (all links go to Twitter)….

  • According to Licht (via Laine), Buccaneers ownership intended to meet with Smith today to discuss his future – or lack thereof – with the organization. However, Licht warned the head coach on Wednesday night about the impending meeting, and Smith opted to talk to ownership on the phone right away instead.
  • Licht called offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, who is reportedly the frontrunner for the job, a “very strong” head coaching candidate, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. However, the GM added (link via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times) that Tampa Bay is obligated to allow Koetter to interview with other teams, and multiple teams have put in a request. According to our tracker, those suitors likely include the Dolphins, Eagles, and 49ers.
  • While Koetter is viewed as a top candidate, Licht said there has been a lot of interest already from outside candidates in the job, per Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. At the time, Licht hadn’t spoken to any candidates, though he said that the search process would begin immediately after the press conference, according to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com.
  • One factor that any of the Buccaneers’ head coaching candidates will have to take into account: Licht now has control over the Bucs’ 53-man roster, though he doesn’t believe that will hold the team back from pursuing certain candidates (link via Laine).
Load More Posts