Smith Motivates Bears at Halftime the Way a Good Head Coach Should

Mike Mulligan at the Chicago Sun-Times addresses head coach Lovie Smith‘s half-time motivational technique:

“Bears coach Lovie Smith isn’t one to get caught up in extremes of emotion, but that didn’t stop him from directing some well-chosen words at his defense at halftime of the team’s 24-20 victory Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

The Bears trailed 17-14 at the time, having just given up a two-play, 91-yard touchdown drive. After watching defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli lay into the troops on the sideline, Smith gave his own motivational speech at halftime.”

“‘Everybody doesn’t curse and do all that stuff,’ [D.J.] Moore said ‘You can see on someone’s face how mad they are or whatever. You can feel the words for yourself.’

Nobody seemed to remember exactly what Smith said, but he got his message across after a sloppy first half in which the Bears’ defense missed countless tackles and allowed the Lions a whopping 253 yards.”

Smith has come under constant criticism for his (apparently) calm demeanor as Bears head coach.  They think every coach should be Mike Ditka.  But consider this.  How long did Ditka last before he lost the players?  Like everyone else I loved Mike Singletary’s now famous rant after the 49ers loss to the Seahawks last year.  Singletary’s an emotional motivator.  But where are the 49ers now?  Rumor has it the players have already stopped listening.

The bottom line is that Smith, like all the rest of us, needs to pick his spots in order to be effective.  He does a good job of that.

One thought on “Smith Motivates Bears at Halftime the Way a Good Head Coach Should”

Leave a Reply