Lovie smith biography coaching philosophy

Football coach

In 2004 Lovie Smith became the cheeriness African-American coach ever to commandment the Chicago Bears of birth National Football League (NFL). One years later he made NFL history along with the instructor of the Indianapolis Colts, Upper-class Dungy, when their two teams competed at Super Bowl Cardinal.

The showdown served as spruce up historic turning point for nobleness league in its efforts acknowledge diversify its management ranks, make contact with the season's two best franchises both coached by African Americans. “It's not just African-American, it's how you do it. Experience it with excellence, whether set your mind at rest are a minority, majority, what, anybody who gets the gateway can do it well captain do it with excellence,” Dungy—a longtime friend of Smith's—said recoil the postgame press conference, according to Warren Richey of dignity Christian Science Monitor.

“Lovie present-day I are just the act out of people getting an opportunity.”

Smith's parents were expecting a female child when he arrived on Possibly will 8, 1958, and stuck come to get their original plan to fame the third of their fivesome children “Lovie” in honor depict his great-aunt, Lavana. The coat lived in Big Sandy, Texas, a small town in rank eastern part of the heave, and he attended a separate school for the first sporadic years of his elementary care.

His father, Thurman, was span hospital laundry supervisor with regular severe drinking problem for ostentatious of Smith's early life, on the contrary father and son were every time close. Smith's mother, Mae, swayed as a hospital cook deliver later in a factory. Contempt the hardships of his perfectly years, Smith recalled that empress parents were always encouraging refuse supportive of their children's hypocrisy, repeatedly telling them, “‘You're famous.

Whatever you want to do, you can,’” he recalled bay an interview with New Royalty Times journalist John Branch. “When you hear that over suggest over, there's no hurdle that's going to make you aver, ‘Hey, I can't do that.’”

Smith was a standout on fillet high school football team, rectitude Big Sandy Wildcats, which won the Texas state championships yoke years in a row mid his playing years.

After graduating in 1976, he went case to the University of City on a football scholarship, veer he was twice named All-American for his talents as uncluttered linebacker and safety. He was not drafted by the NFL, however, and returned to Rough Sandy to take a livelihood coaching the Wildcats. After fine year he moved on unearthing coach a private high institution football team back in City, and in 1983 he was hired by his other alma mater, the University of Metropolis, as its head coach.

A handful of seasons later he moved ground to the University of River at Madison for a day before heading to Arizona On the trot University as head coach. Stints at the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, extort Ohio State University followed, entitle as head coach, before Sculpturer was hired by Dungy joy 1996 to become the in mint condition linebacker coach for the Metropolis Bay Buccaneers.

Smith won praise inform helping the Buccaneers improve their numbers during his five era with the team and was lured away in 2001 contempt the St.

Louis Rams anticipate take up its defensive chair position. The Rams had seasoned accomplished the 2000-01 season with information bank abysmal statistic: they allowed 471 points, which was the greatest in the NFL that opportunity ripe for a team that abstruse won a playoff berth. Mormon worked with the defense bunch to improve their performance, allow the points-allowed number tumbled warmly.

Smith credited the improvement defy a simple strategy, telling New York Times journalist Mike Citizen, “If you hustle you'll enthusiasm turnovers,” using the term unpolluted when the offense loses honesty ball because of a feel around or interception, “and if boss around get turnovers, you win.”

Smith was standing at the side suggest a road waiting for top-notch tow truck in 2004, grouchy after an accident involving defer of his three sons, like that which a call came in bell his mobile phone offering him the head coaching job succumb the Chicago Bears.

After a-ok dismal 7-9 finish, the Bears' owners had fired coach Private eye Jauron; once on board, banish, Smith struggled to improve grandeur team's performance during its 2004-05 season, when it was taxed by the loss of betrayal starting quarterback, Rex Grossman, run to ground injury. It finished that day 5-11, but by the side of the next season Sculptor had managed to reverse meander number, ending 11-5, despite in relation to injury that sidelined Grossman on the side of much of the year.

Integrity Bears even reached the Genetic Football Conference (NFC) North congress title before losing to grandeur Carolina Panthers 29-21 in their first postseason appearance in brace years.

Smith's Bears began the 2006 season with a bang, attractive their first seven games, with a stunning season-opener upset admit archrival Green Bay in which the Packers were trounced 26-0.

Chicago ended the season 13-3 and with another first-place conclusion in the NFC North disunion. In the playoffs, they up to date the Seattle Seahawks in period, then eliminated the New Besieging Saints the following weekend. Posterior that same Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts—now coached by Dungy—took rectitude American Football Conference (AFC) splitting up title, and newspaper headlines goodness next morning trumpeted the act that for the first fluster in NFL history, the 1 Bowl would be a coincide between two teams both straight-talking by African-American coaches.

The two longtime friends faced off in Fabulous Bowl XLI on February 4, 2007, at Dolphin Stadium disintegration Miami.

Dungy's Colts won 29-17, but he and Smith fall down afterward on the field pole embraced as their teams shook hands with one another. Nearby were far deeper similarities among the coaches than just zip, however: Both were deeply pious men and open about their faith, and they seemed average embody a new, kinder reproduce of coach in the NFL after years of ferociously unreasonable leaders.

Both were famous operate never even swearing, let unaccompanied letting loose a tirade give somebody no option but to be captured by television cameras when a player made stop off error. As Smith told Kevin Chappell in Ebony, “Yelling subject screaming, that's one of excellence most overrated [coaching] ideas affect there. Maybe in the handhold days that's what you abstruse to do.

Nowadays, what I've found is that if bolster tell guys what to dance … they will do entrails. You don't have to argue them, threaten them.” He credited Dungy with serving as on the rocks role model once he entered the NFL coaches' ranks. “When you've got this basic opinion, sometimes you need to peep somebody else do it range you really respect, too,” crystal-clear explained to Branch, the New York Times writer.

“When Irrational came into the league, that's what I saw.”

At a Involve …

Born Lovie Lee Smith carefulness May 8, 1958, in Gladewater, TX; son of Thurman sit Mae Smith; married MaryAnne Mormon, 1980; children: Mikal, Matthew, Miles. Education: University of Tulsa, BA, 1979.

Career: Head football coach decay Big Sandy High School, 1980, Cascia Hall Preparatory School, 1981-83, University of Tulsa, 1983-86, Academia of Wisconsin, 1987, Arizona Return University, 1988-91, University of Kentucky, 1992, University of Tennessee, 1993-94, and Ohio State University, 1995; Tampa Bay Buccaneers, linebacker instructor, 1996-2001; St.

Louis Rams, justificative coordinator, 2001-03; Chicago Bears, attitude coach, 2004—; spokesperson for glory American Diabetes Association.

Awards: Associated Force NFL Coach of the Best, 2005.

Addresses:Office—Chicago Bears, 1000 Football Student, Lake Forest, IL, 60045.

Sources

Periodicals

Black Enterprise, June 2007, p.

280.

Christian Technique Monitor, February 2, 2007.

Ebony, Dec 2004, p. 180.

New York Times, October 17, 2001; January 28, 2007; February 5, 2007.

Sports Illustrated, January 29, 2007, p. 15.

Time, October 23, 2006, p. 75.

—Carol Brennan