was fired, and offensive coordinator Mike Martz resigned. Phil Emery, who worked for Smith during the 2004 season as an area scout for the Bears, became the new Bears general manager. Bears offensive line coach Mike Tice replaced Martz at offensive coordinator. In Week 13 of the 2012 season, the Bears recorded their 300th takeaway under Smith. The Bears started the 2012 season on a promising note with a 7–1 record. The team's defense ranked first in takeaways, third in points allowed, and fifth in yards allowed. However, the team lost five of their next eight games. The Bears finished the season with a 10–6 record, but missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. On December 31, 2012, Smith was fired as head coach of the Chicago Bears. Smith departed the Bears with nine years of service, three playoff appearances, one Coach of the Year award, and one Super Bowl appearance. Prior to sitting out the 2013 season, Smith interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills regarding their head coaching vacancies. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Smith was hired as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 10th head coach in franchise history on Monday, January 7, 2014. Talking about his first stint with the Buccaneers, Smith said: "We did lay a foundation for Tampa Bay Buccaneer football, there's a certain brand of football that you expected from us. That would be relentless, you play hard, physical, but there was a brand of football that you did get from us each week at Raymond James Stadium. It was hard for opponents to come in and win." Smith also interviewed for the head coaching vacancies held by the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions prior to taking the Buccaneers job. On January 6, 2016, Smith was fired by the Buccaneers after posting a record of 8–24 in his two years, including a 6–10 record in the 2015 season. University of Illinois On March 7, 2016, Smith was named head coach for the University of Illinois, agreeing to a contract paying $21 million over six years. In the 48 hours following the announcement of the Smith hire, the university sold over 2000 new season tickets and more than 400 new student season tickets. When Smith's contract was approved by the university's Board of Trustees at their September 2016 meeting, $2 million of the salary was moved from the last two years of the contract