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Lovie Smith’s Return To Face Chicago Bears On Sunday Lacks Excitement

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There have been times where fans and media circle the calendar when coaches or players return home to face their former teams. Peyton Manning’s return to Indianapolis was on national television. Brett Favre’s return to Green Bay was a huge deal. We remember Michael Jordan’s return to Chicago in 2002. Historians know how big of a deal it was when Paul Brown returned to Cleveland in 1970. This Sunday we can add another one to the list — Lovie Smith’s return to Chicago.

Smith’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Chicago on Sunday; it will be Smith’s first game against his former team after the Chicago Bears fired him in 2012. Amazingly, Smith is probably the third greatest coach in Bears history. To be fair, they haven’t had many being that George Halas coached for roughly 50 years. Smith consistently led the Bears to winning records including an appearance in a Super Bowl.

Smith was fired after going 10-6 and missing the playoffs in 2012; 10 wins is something Bears fans would dream of having after a season and a half of Marc Trestman. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a column in support of Lovie Smith. He was an uninspiring coach and it was time to try a new voice at the helm.

As we get closer to Sunday’s matchup, could there be any less buzz over Smith’s return? The national media couldn’t care less about this, and Smith certainly didn’t spice it up after talking to the Chicago media today. He told the press that it’s just another game and that he loved his time in Chicago — not exactly stirring the pot.

Could there be a matchup of two duller coaches in the sport than Smith against Trestman? They could play their press conferences at sleep study centers as a cure for insomnia. Smith is willing to admit there is a kickoff Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, but not much beyond that. With Trestman, you can predict what he’s going to say before any of his press conferences start; when he discusses Jay Cutler – Jay is our quarterback. When he discusses his coaches — I have confidence in our coaches. On how the team played (win or lose) — We did some good things but there are a few things we need to work on.

Both coaches say nothing to the press and show no emotion on the sidelines. Their personalities are very alike, and that’s not a positive when you are talking about the head coaches of NFL teams.

So as we gear up for the dullest homecoming in the history of sports featuring two teams that are a combined 6-14, two coaches who are human snooze buttons, two teams that have each been humiliated this year on national television and Lovie Smith’s Buccaneers heading into Chicago to face Marc Trestman’s Bears.

Who’s excited?

Bill Zimmerman is a Chicago Bears writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

 

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