31 Facts About Lovie Smith

Lovie Lee Smith was born on May 8,1958 and is an American football coach.

Lovie Smith has served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Houston Texans of the National Football League and the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Lovie Smith was raised in Big Sandy, Texas, and was named after his great aunt, Lavana.

Lovie Smith played college football at the University of Tulsa under head coach John Cooper.

Lovie Smith was a two-time All-American at linebacker and defensive back.

In 1980, Lovie Smith was hired as defensive coordinator at his alma mater, Big Sandy High School.

Lovie Smith served as defensive backs coach at the University of Tennessee and Ohio State University.

Lovie Smith began his NFL coaching career as a linebacker coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Lovie Smith's first season with the Bears was a struggle, from implementing new offensive and defensive systems, to a series of injuries, including a season-ending knee injury to starting quarterback Rex Grossman.

Lovie Smith became the first Black head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl.

At $1.35 million, he was the lowest-paid coach in the NFL in 2006 Lovie Smith would have earned $1.45 million in the final season of his four-year contract.

Additionally, four other members of Lovie Smith's coaching staff left the team as well.

Lovie Smith declared Orton as the team's starting quarterback, who started the season with an upset victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Lovie Smith was pleased with the success of Orton, who finished the season with a 79.6 quarterback rating, as well as rookie running back Matt Forte.

Lovie Smith was reunited with long-time friend, Rod Marinelli, who had lost his head coaching job with the Detroit Lions.

The loss marked the first time that the Bears, under Lovie Smith, had ever lost two games to Green Bay in a single season.

Lovie Smith finished out the season with consecutive wins against the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions.

Lovie Smith was reunited with Turner's replacement, Mike Martz, who had been the head coach of the St Louis Rams when Lovie Smith was their defensive coordinator.

Lovie Smith was relieved of his defensive play-calling responsibilities, while Babich was officially demoted as the team's defensive coordinator.

On December 31,2012, Lovie Smith was fired as head coach of the Chicago Bears.

Lovie Smith departed the Bears with nine years of service, three playoff appearances, one Coach of the Year award, and one Super Bowl appearance.

On January 7,2014, Lovie Smith returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' as the 10th head coach in their franchise history.

On March 7,2016, Lovie Smith returned to college football and was named head coach for the University of Illinois, agreeing to a contract paying $21 million over six years.

When Lovie Smith's contract was approved by the university's board of trustees at their September 2016 meeting, $2 million of the salary was moved from the last two years of the contract and made payable in earlier years.

Lovie Smith was hired on March 10,2021, by the Houston Texans as their associate head coach and defensive coordinator under head coach David Culley, marking Lovie Smith's first time in the NFL since 2015, when he served as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Lovie Smith was promoted to head coach on February 7,2022.

Lovie Smith had previously interviewed for the Texans' head coaching job in December 2013, where they decided to hire Penn State head coach and former New England Patriots assistant Bill O'Brien on January 3,2014.

Lovie Smith, whose late mother was blind because of diabetes, is an active supporter of the American Diabetes Association.

Lovie Smith was the Grand Marshal for the USG Sheetrock 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on July 15,2007.

Lovie Smith is a devout Christian and has contributed every month to Brown's Chapel, his former Methodist church in Texas.

In 2012, Lovie Smith was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, along with Bubba Lovie Smith, Dave Parks, Andre Ware, Mack Brown and Fred Couples.