Alex Smith was very clear with his concerns about head coaches with a defensive background and young quarterbacks, and Chicago Bears fans should pay attention.
Alex Smith will forever be known as the quarterback the San Francisco 49ers took No. 1 overall in the 2005 NFL Draft instead of Aaron Rodgers. Deep into his career, he was replaced by Patrick Mahomes as the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback.
But all in all, Smith can say he had a good, albeit unique in many ways, NFL career. He can bring an important and broad perspective, and naturally, he is doing some work as an analyst.
Smith recently co-hosted on SiriusXM NFL radio. Via Joe Bucs Fan, he had some pointed comments about head coaches with a background on the defensive side of the ball and how young quarterbacks develop under them.
There is a different mentality, from my career, when you play for an offensive head coach that wants to light up the scoreboard and outscore the opponent," Smith said. "There's a different mentality you have, especially as a young quarterback versus a defensive head coach, when really the [coach's] mentality is 'Hey, don't screw up, don't turn the ball over, don't put us in a bad situation.' … That's a huge difference in a mentality and a mindset for a young quarterback, especially if it's a bit rocky to start."
Smith went on to call out Jets head coach Robert Saleh by name, with the clear failings to develop Zach Wilson.
Yeah, Robert Saleh, you're a great defensive mind and coordinator, but like you have no idea how to develop a quarterback. The coordinator you hired never called plays," Smith said. "So that's a completely different animal. And as much as you think you're prepared to handle that development of a young kid, you're just not."
Chicago Bears fans should clearly heed Alex Smith's warning on Justin Fields
As much as Matt Nagy is not head coach material, he at least came from an offensive background when the Chicago Bears drafted Justin Fields in 2021. After Nagy was fired, he was replaced by former Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
Fields will have continuity at offensive coordinator this year, with Luke Getsy back for a second season. But if the Bears' offense has great success in 2023, as unlikely as that seems, Getsy would be in line for head coaching interviews.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk re-established the quandary of having to replace the offensive coordinator when you have a defensive head coach.
I've expressed a preference for offensive head coaches because, if things go well for the offense, the offensive coordinator gets a head-coaching job somewhere else — and the defensive coach will have to then go find a new coordinator. With an offensive coach, if things go well, the core partnership doesn't change.
The Bears, as many teams do, went with the opposite of what they had when they fired Nagy– swapping an offensive head coach for a defensive one. Their situation a year ago was exactly like the Jets when Saleh came in there. Getsy had never called plays before in the NFL.
Bears fans should not yet give up on Eberflus, Fields and Getsy, individually or as a group. But Smith's blunt comments come from his own experience, with further history to back it up.
So if Fields doesn't develop as hoped, the finger can probably be pointed right at a defensive head coach who didn't know how to get it done.
