Former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith seemed to make some good progress with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season, but that didn’t matter on Wednesday night as it was announced that the team had parted ways with the coach.
Smith, who took over as coach of the Buccaneers after a season off following his ouster by the Bears, racked up an 8-24 record for the team in the last two seasons. His team only won two games in the 2014 campaign, but they were in playoff contention until late in the season when they finished with a 6-10 record in 2015.
The Bears fired Smith after the 2012 season, following a nine-season career with the club. In that time, the Bears had an 81-63 record, five winning seasons, and an appearance in Super Bowl XLI, which they lost to the Indianapolis Colts.
It’s unclear at this point what is next for Smith, but with several head coaching vacancies and an emphasis on finding coaches that can create a solid defense, he could end up jumping onto the radar of GM’s around the league.
