New York Giants: Why Lovie Smith makes sense

Lovie Smith is out as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the New York Giants need a new lead man. Would it be a good fit?

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired Lovie Smith after a 6-10 season.

It’s an incredibly surprising move, especially considering Smith inherited a broken Bucs team with little talent. However, he drafted his quarterback — and quite frankly, the first franchise quarterback the Bucs have ever had — Jameis Winston, and the team looked immaculately improved this year.

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Smith was loved by his players, which makes the move even more questionable. Out of all the teams who had question marks surrounding the head coaching position, Tampa Bay was thought of to have stability.

But like they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Smith’s firing comes at an opportune time for the Giants, too, as Sean Payton announced he will remain as the head coach for the New Orleans Saints.

So with Payton out of the picture, is Smith the new front-runner to be the next head coach of the Giants?

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Well, if you’re a Giants fan who wants the defense to be fixed, than Lovie certainly has to be a favorite. Smith has strictly served as a defensive coach during his career. He has a lot of knowledge about the game, and his Tampa Bay defense — a defense featuring a less-than stellar secondary, mind you — finished 11th in the league this year.

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Remember, this is the same guy who coached the vaunted ’06 Bears to the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman as the quarterback. That Bears defense was one of the best of the new millennium, although it’s obviously important to remember he had guys like Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs on board.

Smith would presumably fix the Giants broken defense without forcing a shift to a 3-4. If he were to become head coach, he may be able to persuade guys like Robert Ayers Jr., Jason Pierre-Paul and Prince Amukamara to stay because of the way he plans to utilize their talent. Players assimilate to good coaching and sound ideas, after all.

It could take a little while for the defense to get figured out, but Smith is certainly a guy who would be capable of putting together an impressive unit.

Smith is also a perfect fit in terms of personality. You’d be hard-pressed to find a head coach who’s classier than Smith. He has the personality that’s fit for a market like New York. He’s not like Jon Gruden or Mike Ditka. In fact, he has a personality similar to Jets head coach Todd Bowles‘.

“I think it’s a mistake to think that coaching is just yelling and screaming at guys. That’s not coaching, all right? That doesn’t get the job done,” Smith said in a 2011 article published by Johnathan Eig of Chicago Magazine. “But people think that by not screaming and yelling publicly, you never discipline guys… I’m never going to change.”

Smith doesn’t necessarily have ties to the Giants, per se, but the team did interview him for the head coaching vacancy in 2004.

While he doesn’t have experience with the Giants, Smith does have a hell of a lot of experience as a head coach and he has a stand-up reputation around the league.

The job opportunity, if offered, would likely be appealing to Smith, as well. He would have the opportunity to coach with the best quarterback he’s ever had. If Smith were to come to New York as the head coach and decide to keep current offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo on board (obviously barring McAdoo taking a head coaching position elsewhere), the offense would already be set.

All Smith would have to focus on would be the defense. With that in mind, it wouldn’t shock me to see Smith push for a stud linebacker in the draft while building the rest of the defense in free agency.

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Of course, Smith will be attracted to New York because of the ownership stability and the patience it has with its coaches, especially since he just got fired after a measly two years on a team that was bound to rebuild.

A caveat may be the fact that Smith had final say over roster moves regarding the 53-man roster, so it’s possible he’s seeking similar control.

However, there’s a chance the Giants’ ownership and Smith are able to hit a fair middle ground. Smith wouldn’t be the coach for just the next two seasons (unless Smith goes 0-32 in two seasons), he’ll be the head coach for the long haul.

Writer’s note:

Wow, what a stroke of luck. If the Giants want a class act who has experience as a head coach, then Smith should be the guy. I know I did my list of nine candidates the other day, but Smith now supplants Payton as the best option to replace Tom Coughlin.