[CBFF] TIME: Why Chicago Loves Lovie

[Steve Behrens]

 Why Chicago Loves Lovie The Bears' gentle coach is on a roll
By SEAN GREGORY / LAKE FOREST <javascript:void(0)>
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Posted Sunday, Oct. 15, 2006
Lovie Smith is a football coach. Yes, the name is Lovie, and while that's
not exactly a testosterone-fueled calling card, Smith isn't cut from the
foul-mouthed jock mold anyway. The head coach of the Chicago Bears cusses
like, well, a kindergarten teacher. What does he say when he gets upset?
"Jiminy!" And when he's really angry? "Jiminy Christmas," says MaryAnne, his
wife of 26 years. "That's like us throwing F-bombs." Or there's the glare, a
sign to the players that they've disappointed their coach.

The glares are rarer these days. It's only October, but the Bears have
established themselves as the NFL team to beat. Through the first five
weeks, they were not only undefeated but had outscored opponents 156-36,
including a 37-6 whipping of the Seattle Seahawks, last year's NFC champs.
"I just don't see any flaws on this team," says ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski.

Defense is the hallmark of Chicago football--from Dick Butkus to "Samurai"
Mike Singletary--and Smith's is exemplary, which isn't surprising, given his
history as a defensive coordinator. Led by middle linebacker Brian Urlacher,
the Bears had created 15 turnovers--tied for tops in the NFL--entering last
weekend. Yet the real news is that the Bears have a potent offense. Smith
stuck by quarterback Rex Grossman, an oft-injured, inconsistent fourth-year
player, through a rocky preseason. Smith's reward? Grossman is a top-rated
QB in the NFL.

The players have happily boarded Lovie's boat. "He's got a quiet confidence
about him that demands respect," Grossman says. "You just follow his every
lead." In the Windy City, where the bluster of legendary coaches George
Halas and Mike Ditka helped lead Da Bears to glory, Smith is a cool breeze
off Lake Michigan. "He's not seeking to show he's General Patton," says Marv
Levy, general manager of the Buffalo Bills, a 40-7 victim of a Bears
beating. Smith, who spent 20 years as a college and pro assistant before
taking the Bears job in 2004, revered coaches who taught rather than tossed
chairs. "Screaming was for guys that didn't have anything to say," he says.

Smith, 48, grew up dirt poor in the tiny east Texas town of Big Sandy, where
his work ethic spoke volumes. In the summers, Smith, a self-described "hick"
who turns words like curfew into care-few, picked berries, and tossed 30-lb.
bales of hay onto trucks. "I can smell it now," he says, perking up in his
Lake Forest, Ill., office, loading faux hay over his shoulder. "We didn't
know about lifting weights. Haaaay! That's what you got." The name Lovie he
got from his great-aunt Lavana, no doubt requiring him to become a very
tolerant man. His most stirring performance took place in 1988, when his son
Matthew, then 2, fell into the family's pool. (Smith was an assistant at
Arizona State.) Though afraid of water, Smith jumped in and pulled a tiny
blue body from the bottom. MaryAnne's CPR resuscitated the boy. Matthew, now
a student at Northwestern, had all but drowned. "I was no hero," Smith says.
"I let my guard down. Luckily, we were able to make a wrong right."

He'd like to do the same for the NFL's less than sterling record of hiring
minorities for top coaching jobs. "I could be politically correct and say,
No, [race] is not a barrier," Smith says. "But race will always be a part of
life." The Detroit Lions invited Smith to interview for a head coaching job
in 2003, when he was defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams, but he
declined, sensing that Detroit was ready to hire someone else. "I don't
believe in token interviews."

Becoming the first black head coach in the Super Bowl would notch another
groundbreaking victory for Smith. He could face off against fellow aspirant
Tony Dungy, coach of the Indianapolis Colts, another 5-0 starter. "I like
being a pioneer," Smith says. Not just for African Americans, but for
coaches everywhere who drop J-bombs.