Lovie Smith, head coach of the Chicago Bears, spoke with Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. According to Smith, the previous reports that the Bears were looking for a passing coordinator so offensive coordinator Mike Tice could focus on the run game were in fact false:
"I thought about a lot of different things, but in the end, I didn’t feel like we needed [a passing coordinator]," Smith said. "We have a coordinator in Mike Tice. We don’t have a defensive run-game coordinator or anything like that. I was trying to get the perfect group that I could on the offensive side of the ball."
Smith said the media "jumped the gun" on the passing coordinator speculation, reporting in January that the team had begun to look for two offensive coordinators. Many had speculated Jeremy Bates, hired recently as the quarterbacks coach, would eventually be named the team's passing coordinator.
The head coach also addressed the other coaches on staff, saying he felt the team had "great leadership" and that he was excited to get on offseason in 2012 after the 2011 NFL lockout truncated last year's offseason.
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