Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach. He has served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Houston Texans of the NFL, and as the head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini. Smith has been to the Super Bowl twice, as the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams in 2001 and as head coach for the Bears in 2006. Early life Smith was raised in Big Sandy, Texas and won three straight state titles as a star linebacker. He was named after his great aunt, Lavana. Playing career High school During Smith's high school career at Big Sandy, he earned all-state honors for three years as a defensive end and linebacker. His team won three consecutive state championships from 1973 to 1975, including a 0–0 tie in 1974 versus G. A. Moore's Celina. In 1975, Big Sandy had one of the most dominant seasons in high school football history, as the defense allowed only 15 points (11 shutouts) all season, while the offense, featuring eventual Miami Dolphins running back David Overstreet, scored a then-national record 824 points. College Smith played college football at University of Tulsa under head coach John Cooper. He was a two-time All-American at linebacker and defensive back. Coaching career High school After graduating from college, he immediately pursued a coaching career. He was hired as defensive coordinator at his alma mater, Big Sandy High School, in 1980. A year later, he left for Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa in 1981 and 1982, coaching defensive backs and wide receivers. College assistant coach In 1983, Smith began coaching linebackers on the college level, first at his alma mater the University of Tulsa (1983–86), and then at University of Wisconsin–Madison (1987), Arizona State University (1988–91), and the University of Kentucky (1992). He also served as defensive backs coach at the University of Tennessee (1993–94), and Ohio State University (1995). NFL assistant coach Smith began his NFL coaching career as a linebacker coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Under the guidance of Tony Dungy, he helped develop the Tampa 2 defense. After spending five years with Buccaneers, Smith was hired as the defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams under head coach Mike Martz. While in St. Louis, Smith improved the Rams defense, which went from giving up a league-worst 29.4 points per game in 2000 to an