Lovie Smith Expected to be Named Head Coach at the University of Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, IL - The strong connection between the Chicago Bears and University of Illinois football will add an unlikely chapter as former Bears head coach Lovie Smith is expected to take over the helm of the Fighting Illini program.

Multiple media reports surfaced Saturday indicating Smith will formally be announced as the new leader of the Big Ten program as early as Monday.

On his first official day on the job, new Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman fired head coach Bill Cubit, who had just signed a two-year contract to lead the school’s football program in November. Later in the day, reports surfaced that former NFL head coaches Mike Singletary, Leslie Frazier (also both former Bears) or Smith would be named Cubit’s replacement. It was later reported, by the Chicago Sun-Times and others, that Smith will get the nod.

Smith was the Bears head coach from 2004-2012, amassing a winning record and leading the team to three playoff appearances, including one Super Bowl.

He’s the latest big football name to share a tie with both the Bears and Illini. George Halas, founder of the Bears and the NFL, is a University of Illinois graduate. So are Dick Butkus and Red Grange, also former legendary Bears.

Smith was fired in January as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a post he held for two seasons and went 8-24. He hasn’t been a college head coach, but has served as an assistant for Ohio State, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona State, Wisconsin and Tulsa.