Lovie Smith: Master of Defense, Dunce at Quarterback
This offseason, Lovie Smith replaced Greg Schiano as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2004 – 2012, Lovie established one of the most dominant defenses in recent memory.
But his tenure for the Bears was marred by below-average quarterback play. Between Rex Grossman, Kyle Orton, and Ryan Greise, Chicago could just never get consistent play out of their quarterback. They finally found a decent enough starter in Jay Cutler, but he was never really worth the two first round picks Chicago traded for him.
Lovie ended up getting himself fired after failing to make the playoffs despite good starts to the season in both 2011 and 2012. The Buccaneers hired Lovie as their new head coach for the 2014 season, and he was quick to make significant improvements to the defense like he did in Chicago.
He cut elite cornerback Darrelle Revis, who cost a mountain of money and wasn’t a good scheme fit for the new regime. Lovie found a fitting replacement in former Tennessee cornerback Alterraun Verner, and then he grabbed the excellent defensive end Michael Johnson from Cincinnati.
Those moves on the defensive side of the ball were great. Where Lovie stumbled, as usual, was at the quarterback position. Despite a promising rookie campaign from 2013 third round draft pick Mike Glennon (19 touchdowns to 9 interceptions last season), Lovie brought in the 34-year-old Josh McCown from Chicago to be the starter.
McCown did have an impressive statline when he filled in for the injured Jay Cutler, but it is important to remember he had the benefit of playing with the best offensive nucleus in the entire NFL with receivers Brandan Marshall and Alshon Jeffery and running back Matt Forte. With that kind of talent around him, many of McCown’s flaws were masked.
Glennon played well despite being new to the NFL and not having the same talent around him as McCown. He deserves a chance to develop further, but he won’t get that in Tampa Bay. In the 2014 Draft, the Buccaneers passed on the available top-tier quarterbacks of Manziel and Bridgewater, cementing McCown as the starter. Good luck with that.
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