Bears, Smith agree to 2-year extension
INDIANAPOLIS — Just minutes after his two-year contract extension was announced, Bears head coach Lovie Smith told a media throng at the NFL's Scouting Combine here that he was looking forward to taking the next step after his team fell a game short of the Super Bowl XLV.
“I feel like we made progress,” said Smith, who led the Bears to a third NFC North title in his seventh year as head coach. “We got some things accomplished but came up a little short at the end.”
Still, Smith was rewarded with a two-year extension that will keep him with the Bears through 2013. He had one year left on the four-year extension that he signed for $22 million after the Bears' Super Bowl XLI loss to the Indianapolis Colts after the 2006 season, his second with the team.
Smith was making $5 million a year, and although terms of his new deal weren't announced, he was expected to receive a slight raise.
“Of course I feel great about the extension,” Smith said. “Just like I have every day I've been on the job as the head coach for the Chicago Bears. It's a great organization with great players that come to work every day. I have an excellent coaching staff. I'm in position to be here to get that extension based on what players and our staff have done.”
Smith is tied for the second-longest tenure in the NFC behind the Giants' Tom Coughlin, and he's tied for the fifth-longest tenure in the NFL.
Last year, Smith's Bears won the NFC North with an 11-5 record and advanced to the NFC championship game. But he is aware that his team has a difficult task next season, playing in the same division as the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, who eliminated the Bears in the NFC title game.
“We realize we have the Super Bowl champs in our division, and we're looking up to them,” Smith said. “We're looking forward to this next year of trying to get ourselves in position to where we can hold up the Lombardi Trophy.”
The 52-year-old Smith led the Bears to NFC North titles in 2005, 2006 and 2010, achieving double-digit win totals in each of those title seasons. The three division titles since '05 are the second-most in the NFC, trailing only the Seattle Seahawks, who have four. Since 2005, the Bears and the Falcons are the only NFC teams with three 11-plus-win seasons.
Smith's regular-season record is 63-49, a 56.3 winning percentage, and he is 3-3 in the postseason. His 66 wins are third most in franchise history, trailing only Hall of Famers George Halas and Mike Ditka. He also guided the Bears to their first Super Bowl appearance in 21 years, which they lost to the Colts 29-17 after the 2006 season.
Smith, a native of Big Sandy in East Texas, was The Associated Press NFL coach of the year for 2005 after becoming the fastest head coach in Bears history to lead the team to a division title. They finished 11-5 after going 5-11 in Smith's inaugural season. He and Mike Ditka are the only coaches in franchise history to lead the Bears to consecutive division titles ('05 and '06), and Smith is the first coach in team history to reach the playoffs in two of his first three seasons with the club.
Since Smith became the 13th head coach in franchise history in 2004, the Bears' defense leads the NFL in takeaways (235), opponents' third-down efficiency (33.8 percent), and it has the highest percentage of three-and-out drives forced (26.6 percent) and tackles for negative yardage (398). The Bears' defense ranks second in the NFL in interceptions (137) and fumble recoveries (98), third in the Aikman Efficiency Ratings for defense (78.8) and fourth in average points allowed (19.2) since 2004.
Ÿ Bob LeGere will have more on this story later today, and in Saturday's print editions. Follow Bob's Bears reports via Twitter @BobLeGere and check out his blog, Bear Essentials, at dailyherald.com.