10 Interesting Facts About Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Lovie Smith

Lovie Smith is the Head Coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here are 10 interesting facts about him.

Lovie Smith who was born on May 8, 1958 in Gladewater, Texas. He is the current Head Coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has been coaching in the NFL since 1996.

10 interesting facts about Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Lovie Smith

Facts #1:

Lovie Smith played defensive end and linebacker at Big Sandy High School. The team won three consecutive State Championships plus a final score tie in their 4^th State Title game as neither team was able to score and the game ended 0-0 against Celina High School.

Facts #2:

Lovie Smith was part of Big Sandy when they only allowed 15 points scored against the defense for the entire season which still stands as one of the greatest seasons a team had since their offense led by future star of the Miami Dolphins, David Overstreet put up a national record of 824 points on offense.

Facts #3:

Lovie Smith was a two-time All-American at Safety and Linebacker at the University of Tulsa. Lovie felt he wasn’t good enough to get to the professional level so instead he committed right after college graduation to a life of coaching football and immediately was hired at his alma mater, Big Sandy High School and became their defensive coordinator.

Facts #4:

Lovie Smith helped form the Tampa 2 defense under Head Coach Tony Dungy when Lovie was the team’s linebackers coach in 1996-2000.

Facts #5:

Lovie Smith spent five years with the Buccaneers and became the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams. His first year with the Rams, they went to Super Bowl XXXVI and lost to the New England Patriots and their new QB Tom Brady. It was a devastating loss as the Rams were a heavy favorite to win the game. Lovie spent two additional seasons with the Rams before Chicago fired Dick Jauron as their head coach and in 2004 hired Lovie Smith for the position.

Facts #6:

Lovie Smith during his nine year career as the head coach of the Chicago Bears went to one Super Bowl, three playoff games, and one Coach of the Year award.

Facts #7:

Lovie Smith is an active participants of charities that deal with the issues of diabetes because of his mother’s blindness attributed to the disease. One of Lovie Smith’s favorite charities is the American Diabetes Association.

Facts #8:

Lovie Smith was inducted with Dave Parks, Bubba Smith, Mack Brown, Andre Ware and Fred Couples into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

Facts #9:

Lovie Smith was fired after 9 years with the Chicago Bears for failing to make the playoffs after starting at a blistering 7-1 start but finishing with a 10-6 record.

Facts #10:

Lovie Smith became the 10th head coach in franchise history for he Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He signed a 5 year deal on January 7,2014.

Sources: TV Guide, Pro Football Reference, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Team Site, Encyclopedia, All Voices