Lovie Smith Saved by His Players

While many Bears fans were unhappy that coach Lovie Smith was not among the personnel let go by the organization earlier this week, I think the ownership made the right decision.

Letting go of Ron Turner was long overdue. While I’m sure he is a capable offensive coordinator, I don’t think he had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish with the Bears’ offense, nor did he have the most talented players to work with. It is clearly time to bring on someone else on board who can look at things with a fresh eye.

On the other hand, Smith can thank his players for keeping his job. The players rallied to win the final two games of the season to finish 7-9, and many of them spoke out in his favor in the days leading up to Tuesday’s purge. Sometimes as fans, we are so focused on seeing results on the field that we overlook the importance of the relationship between a coach and his players off of it.

Firing Lovie would have hurt this team more than it would have helped them, especially in terms of morale and rapport. Knowing how much the players respected their head coach was, I’m sure, a key factor in their decision to keep him on board. While I’m sure both Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo were given ultimatums – “win or else” – I predict that both will be part of this team a year from now, and fans will be grateful that Smtih wasn't fired. I expect the Bears to be rejuvenated as a result of some of the changes in the offensive coaching staff, and that should help them perform better overall. Look for the 2010 season to be a big improvement over 2009.

Coaching Changes for Federer, Hewitt

With the French Open set to begin in less than two weeks, world number one Roger Federer announced on his Web site that he split with his part-time coach Tony Roche, citing communication problems. The decision follows several weeks of poor play by the Swiss champion who has participated in four tournaments without winning a title.

For the time being, Federer says he plans to go it alone at the French Open and Wimbledon. “I’m not going to take a coach because I know what it takes to win,” he said. “I don’t want anyone interfering with my preparation.”

In the meantime, Roche may soon land himself another coaching job, this time with former world number one and fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt, according to Hewitt’s manager, David Drysdale in a Reuters’ article. Hewitt has been without a coach since Roger Rasheed quit in January before the Australian Open. He has struggled with his form this season and is recovering from a back injury. Hewitt, who was the world number one for 80 weeks from 2001 to 2003 has not won a grand slam title in five years and is currently ranked 22nd.