They were hard decisions that I had to make,” Smith said, “some tough decisions to tell some good football coaches that we are going in a different direction, coaches that helped us win the NFC championship not too many years ago. So we appreciate everything they did for us, but it is about the future for us and moving forward, and I feel like we can do that.”
While all six assistants who were dismissed Tuesday worked on the Bears offense, Smith stressed that he wasn’t blaming one side of the ball for the team’s disappointing 7-9 record. To that end, he explained that he was going to relinquish his play-calling duties on defense and hire a defensive coordinator.
“I am moving out of my role that I handled this past year as defensive coordinator,” Smith said. “I felt like last year, me being in that position was the best thing to do. I feel differently after going through this season, so I will be bringing in a defensive coordinator also