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The Chicago Bears on Wednesday named St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith their new coach and announced he has agreed to a four-year contract.
Smith, 45, got the nod over Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm and will be introduced at a news conference Thursday afternoon. He will be reunited with general manager Jerry Angelo, with whom he worked as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"I think God put me on the Earth to lead a team, and I hope it's the Bears," Smith told reporters Tuesday. Tickets
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Smith spent the last three years with the Rams, adding the title assistant head
coach prior to the 2003 season. His defense was an aggressive unit as St. Louis
topped the NFL with 46 takeaways, scored five touchdowns and was fourth with
42 sacks this season.
A 21-year coaching veteran, Smith replaces Dick Jauron, who was fired last month with one year left on his contract after the Bears won just 11 games over the past two seasons.
Under Jauron this season, Chicago ranked 14th in the NFL in total defense, two spots ahead of the Rams. But the Bears were 28th in total offense en route to a 7-9 record and a third-place finish in the NFC Central Division.
Smith began his coaching career at Tulsa, his alma mater, and had stints at Wisconsin, Arizona State, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio State before joining the Buccaneers as linebackers coach in 1996.
He joined St. Louis in 2001 and helped the Rams return to the Super Bowl. St. Louis allowed 198 fewer points in Smith's first season with the team and yielded 66 fewer yards per game.
Smith is the NFL's fifth African-American coach, joining Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts, Herman Edwards of the New York Jets, Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals and Dennis Green of the Arizona Cardinals.