Report: Lovie Smith Has Spoken With 4 Teams Regarding HC Positions

ESPN’s John Clayton reports that former Bears head coach Lovie Smith has already spoken with four teams regarding head coach positions.

Smith has only  been out of a job now for a few hours, but he’s widely respected around the league, so it makes sense that teams would at least be checking in on him.

The Chiefs, Chargers, Browns, Cardinals, Bills and Eagles are all in play, so it will be interesting to see who, if any, he interviews with.

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Lovie Smith agent, Matthew Smith, says that Smith is ready to be a head coach in the NFL for the 2013 season, per Vaughn McClure

“He’s ready to coach. He’s ready to be a head coach in the NFL somewhere in 2013,” said Matthew Smith of IMG, Lovie Smith’s agent.

— vaughn mcclure (@vxmcclure23)
December 31, 2012

It shouldn’t take long before Smith starts to interview for another head coaching job. Lovie posted an 80-63 regular-season record since 2004 and a 6-3 record in the postseason, with three losing seasons in his long tenure with the Bears.

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Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that the Chicago Bears have fired head coach Lovie Smith after nine season with the team.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds that the Bears have already “sent out consent forms requesting permission to interview head-coaching candidates.”

Bears QB Jay Cutler on news of Lovie Smith’s firing: “It’s going to be a sad day at Halas Hall,” said QB Jay Cutler, per Sean Jensen.

With the Bears missing out on the playoffs and the fact that GM Phil Emery didn’t hire Smith in the first place, it was probably easier for Emery to start making the big changes he intended on making in the first place.

Smith will certainly draw interest on the open market and could even find work as a head coach somewhere.