The Bears’ defensive playbook won’t be edited to include extra pages for the “South Beach Diet,” but suffice to say the team’s payroll isn’t the only thing getting trimmed this off-season.
In Lovie Smith’s most expansive comments since taking over last month, the coach gave the skinny on his plans to make the Bears look different on the field–and in the mirror.
“There will be no fat guys on our team,” Smith said Thursday during the first day of the NFL combine. “You watch our practice and you’ll see why. You can’t make it through without being lean and able to run.”
In that vein, Smith already has asked 272-pound defensive end Alex Brown, for one, to lose weight and gain quickness necessary to play in Smith’s aggressive, gap-control system. He also dismissed the notion that linebacker Brian Urlacher needs a portly presence at defensive tackle to basically block blockers, as Keith Traylor and Ted Washington did in the Bears’ old scheme that often was credited with helping Urlacher become a superstar.
“I’ve heard that an awful lot and I don’t really buy that philosophy,” Smith said. “If the offensive lineman [takes] on a linebacker, we ask the defensive lineman to make the play. It’s really as simple as that. We don’t have sacrifice defenders out there to allow players to make the play. We had 46 turnovers in St. Louis last year and it wasn’t based on guys sacrificing.”
That doesn’t mean Smith expects a dropoff in Urlacher’s tackle numbers–quite the contrary. In illustrating how his attacking system can benefit the middle linebacker, Smith used the example of former Buccaneers linebacker Hardy Nickerson once making 200 tackles in a season.
“Those are high numbers, but that’s what can happen,” Smith said.
Without criticizing his franchise player, Smith expressed the need for Urlacher to be more disruptive than he was last season when the linebacker didn’t account for a turnover and had only 2.5 sacks. Smith reasoned a player of Urlacher’s stature should have at least five interceptions and five sacks a season.
“Even in a bad year, he should have three [interceptions] and three [sacks],” Smith said.
He called Urlacher the “prototype” middle linebacker for a reconfigured Bears defense in which only the size of the collision will matter.
“We’ve never had a middle linebacker like him,” Smith added. “The speed that Brian has, the ground he can cover, I think he will take off in this system.”
Smith’s expectations remain just as high for running back Anthony Thomas in the Bears’ new offensive system that has been characterized as a round hole for Thomas’ square peg. Though a running back like Kevin Jones of Virginia Tech or Steven Jackson or Oregon State will be tempting for the Bears with the 14th pick in the NFL draft, Smith didn’t sound like a coach worried about the engine quality of the “A Train.”
“To me, most good running backs, if you get 1,000 yards rushing, you can fit into most systems that run the football,” Smith said. “Anthony can fit into our system. I’ve been asked quite a bit about Anthony. Last year wasn’t a great year for him but it wasn’t a great year for a lot of players. But he’s starting over.”
So will veteran quarterback Kordell Stewart, just not with the Bears. Smith stopped short of saying Stewart had been released, but a league source said Stewart’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, and the Bears continue to work out final details that would cut Stewart loose. With Rex Grossman entering what amounts to his rookie season and rickety 38-year-old Chris Chandler backing him up, the profile of the Bears’ third QB has yet to be determined.
“We would like to have two veteran guys, and the third guy can be a veteran or a young guy [in the draft],” said Smith, who says he becomes more impressed with Grossman with every meeting.
“Once you talk to him, he’ll convince you that he’s ready to lead the team,” he said. “He’ll convince you if there’s a two-minute drive and we have to score, then we can get it done.”
His confidence soared just as high in describing the Bears’ new coaching staff, the most inexperienced in the league with 38 NFL seasons spread among 17 assistants. Asked if that concerned him, Smith scoffed.
“Not at all,” he said. “When people say you need coaches who have been in the league . . . I think you need teachers. Tony Dungy’s first staff [in Tampa Bay] had me and Rod Marinelli, and we were college guys. I think it’s important to have guys who have maybe a little more veteran leadership in the coordinators positions, but the rest of it you need good teachers to teach the system. That’s what we have.”
Smith has been bombarded with questions about the coaching staff, and everything else, in his first month on the job. But one of the most memorable questions came from a player–enigmatic wide receiver David Terrell–who simply asked for a fresh start.
“[Terrell] was one of the first guys to come in and say, `It hasn’t been perfect for me here in the past, you’re starting off new, and I want the same opportunity,”‘ Smith said. “He said, `Judge me from here on out, I’ll show you that I can help the Bears win and win big. I’m a big-time player, give me a chance to do that.’ And that’s what we’re going to do.”
