A few days ago, it was reported that wherever Lovie Smith ended up, Jeff Tedford would be his offensive coordinator. It appears now that Lovie's destination will be Tampa, meaning that our former leader and his famously large playbook are heading to South Florida with him.
The Bucs are hiring Lovie Smith to be their new head coach, two sides are finalizing the contract tonight
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) January 2, 2014
Despite my personal excitement about this, there are many legitimate questions about Tedford's fit in this role. He has never coached in the NFL, for one, and for two, his offenses regressed as his time in Berkeley continued.
Equally worrying is the fact that for all his reputation as a quarterback guru, he was never able to work that same magic on anyone in his last five or six years here. Smith is likely thinking that by scaling Tedford's responsibilities back to just coaching, that his offensive expertise will once again shine through.
While that much remains to be seen, Tedford's return to football does, at the very least, give Bears fans another reason to tune in on Sundays. Let's see what he can make out of Vincent Jackson and Doug Martin.