What is Lovie Smith's Net Worth?
Lovie Smith is an American professional football coach who has a net worth of $20 million. Lovie Smith has coached numerous college and NFL football teams since he began his career in the early 1980s. On the collegiate level, he coached at such schools as Arizona State University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and in the NFL he has coached for such teams as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, and Houston Texans. During his time with the Bears in 2005, Smith was named the NFL Coach of the Year.
Early Life and Education
Lovie Smith was born on May 8, 1958 in Gladewater, Texas and was raised in Big Sandy. He attended Big Sandy High School, where he played three seasons as a defensive end and linebacker on the football team. In all three of his seasons, from 1973 to 1975, Smith led Big Sandy to state championships. Moreover, in 1975, the team had one of the most dominant seasons in the history of high school football, with its defense allowing just 15 points during the entirety of the season. Smith went on to play college football at the University of Tulsa, where he was a two-time All-American.
Coaching Career, 1980-2003
Following his college graduation, Smith immediately embarked on his career as a football coach. He began by serving as defensive coordinator at his alma mater Big Sandy High School in 1980. After that, from 1981 to 1982, Smith served as assistant defensive backs coach and wide receivers coach at Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa. He then began coaching linebackers on the collegiate level, starting with a position at his alma mater the University of Tulsa in 1983. Smith remained the linebackers coach at Tulsa through 1986; he then moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the 1987 season. Next, from 1988 to 1991, he coached linebackers at Arizona State University. Smith had his last college linebackers coach job in 1992, at the University of Kentucky.
Smith began coaching defensive backs at the college level in 1993, at the University of Tennessee. After leaving the school in 1994, he served one season as the defensive backs coach at Ohio State University. Smith went on to commence his NFL coaching career in 1996, as a linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under head coach Tony Dungy. He served in that role for five seasons before becoming the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams in 2001. Working under head coach Mike Martz, Smith helped substantially improve the defense of the Rams, with the team winning the NFC Championship Game in 2002 and making it to Super Bowl XXXVI. In the Super Bowl, the Rams lost to the New England Patriots in a historic upset.
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Coaching Career, 2004-2022
After leaving the Rams in 2003, Smith was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears in 2004. Following a rough first season, in which the team posted a 5-11 record, Smith orchestrated a massive turnaround in 2005 as the Bears finished with an 11-5 record. For this achievement, he was named the NFL Coach of the Year. Smith led the Bears to an even stronger season in 2006, with a 13-3 record and the NFC's top playoff seed. The team went on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional playoffs and the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game. In Super Bowl XLI, Smith's Bears lost to the Indianapolis Colts. The team had a less successful 2007 season, finishing with a 7-9 record. In 2008, the Bears finished slightly better, at 9-7. They struggled again in 2009 as their record fell back to 7-9. Smith and the Bears had a major comeback in 2010, finishing 11-5 and first in the NFC North. However, they fell to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game. The Bears would go on to post an 8-8 record in 2011. In his final season with the team in 2012, Smith led the Bears to a 10-6 record, but it wasn't good enough to reach the playoffs. He was fired by the team at the end of the year.
Smith ended up sitting out the 2013 NFL season. He returned in 2014 as the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for which he had previously served as a linebackers coach. Smith struggled in his new role, leading the Bucs to a dismal 2-14 record in his first season as head coach. His second season wasn't much better, as the team finished 6-10. Following that season, he was fired. Smith subsequently returned to coaching college football as the new head coach of the Fighting Illini at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. However, he continued to have a spotty record, as the Illini finished 3-9 in 2016, 2-10 in 2017, and 4-8 in 2018. Smith had his first significant win with the team in 2019 when the Illini upset the Wisconsin Badgers 24-23. That season, he also led the team to its first bowl game in five years. Smith was eventually fired by Illinois in late 2020 after beginning the season with a 2-5 record. The next year, he returned to the NFL as associate head coach and defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans. In early 2022, Smith was promoted to head coach of the Texans. However, after the team went 3-13-1 that season, Smith was fired.
Personal Life
With his wife MaryAnne, Smith has three sons. He and his wife also run the Lovie and MaryAnne Smith Foundation, which provides educational opportunities to disadvantaged youth.
