Before I get started, Lovie Smith is not close to getting fired and Phil Emery does not have the thought in his head to fire Smith. When the Chicago Bears hired Emery, owner George McCaskey tols him Smith would be the head coach for the 2012 season. As that means, Emery had no say in the keeping of Smith. However, after the 2012 season concludes, Emery has all the freedom to fire Smith if he chooses to do so.
Smith's contract does not run out until the end of the 2013 season. Smith may be more on the hot seat this year because he has an offense to go with a defense. Don't get me wrong, head coaches are always on the hot seat during a season. It will be nothing new to Smith as he's been on the hot seat since he's been in Chicago.
"Lovie has said there's pressure every year to win. That's just a fact of life in the NFL," McCaskey told "The Carmen, Jurko & Harry Show" on ESPN 1000. "We told Phil when he came in that Lovie had to be the coach in 2012. He accepted that condition. We also told him that he would have the freedom to make a change if he thought it was necessary after 2012."
"The hope is that we win the Super Bowl and there won't be a change."
Emery said he was fine with keeping Smith as the head coach and likes Smith. However, Emery does have expectations...
"As far as my expectations, it's the same as I put on myself," he told reporters on Wednesday. "I said this when I first came in, we expect to be experts at our given jobs. And our goal is excellence and coming together to win championships, and that's my expectations -- to make steady progress towards those goals.
"I consider this a team that has goals. And we want to make progress towards those goals daily and weekly, every Sunday, towards those goals. And I want to know where that direction is. It won't be Week 1, Week 2. It'll be at the end of the season. I want to know what the direction of our team is daily and weekly toward attaining our goals, and that's how I'll determine it. Are we achieving excellence? Are we moving towards our goals or not?"
Smith said he's not worried about his contract for now.
"Nobody's really thinking about contracts," he said Wednesday. "You think about contracts in the offseason, you negotiate things there.
"Right now, I think as a football team, we're just ready to see everyone out on the football field doing their job, and that's the message."
People may disagree with me, but I like Smith as a head coach and think he's a great coach. I expect the Bears to have a great season and he'll be back next season.
