Going home vs. Going to a contender...

On Wednesday night, it was reported on Fox Sports that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired Lovie Smith to fill their head coaching vacancy, bringing back the former Chicago Bears head coach who used to be an assistant for four years in the Bucs organization.

Because the host on Fox Sports Radio also works for the Bucs radio broadcasts, all the talk on air regarding the hiring is about how Tampa Bay just got a great coach, how the Glazer family (the ownership) made a smart hiring, how Smith would help vastly improve the Bucs (since he took a Bears team with quarterback Rex Grossman to the Super Bowl following the 2006 season), and how the Bucs fanbase was excited about this piece of news. There was also talk about how the Bucs made the better hire in going with Smith compared to the Houston Texans' hiring of Penn State's Bill O'Brien as their new head coach.

Now, it's great to have the radio show host be excited and be a Bucs homer.... but the problem is he's on national radio and not working for Bucs radio on Wednesday night! Why wasn't there more scrutiny on the fact Lovie Smith chose to "go home" (since he was a former assistant in Tampa Bay) instead of wanting to "go to a contender" (with the Detroit Lions' head coaching position arguably the best job out there amongst teams which had fired their coaches)?

Even if the Bucs vastly improved under Smith, they would be hard pressed to make the playoffs without a star quarterback and with the club in the same division as the normally-tough New Orleans Saints and (except for this season) the Atlanta Falcons. And oh, neither the Saints nor the Falcons won the NFC South this year with Cam Newton's Carolina Panthers going 12-4 to claim the division crown. So, sure, it's "great" that the Bucs hired Smith (not so great that there was all this Bucs homerism on a national radio sports talk show), but why isn't there more talk and scrutiny on how he didn't take on the opportunity to go to a contender like the Lions?

According to ESPN.com, the Lions "were also interested in Smith, but he preferred the Bucs job." The Lions, in the same division as the Bears, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Green Bay Packers, would be considered contenders right now as they are in a weak (relatively-speaking) NFC North division and they have superstars Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson at the quarterback and wide receiver positions, respectively. Smith, having coached the Bears, would obviously have an understanding of the division and would likely understand the Lions as he faced them twice per year.

If you think about it, Smith has an opportunity to have more success in Detroit, at least immediately, more so than in Tampa Bay. Heck, Smith won 10 games in Chicago before only to miss the playoffs, and if he somehow led the Bucs to 10 wins (unlikely because they are not a good team) they might still finish behind the Saints and the Panthers (or Falcons) in the division and not qualify for a wild card berth. (Didn't the Bucs win 10 games and still miss the playoffs a few seasons back too?) In Detroit, there is a better chance to win a lot of games, and in a weak NFC North that would qualify you as a division champ and a shot at the Super Bowl.

So here, clearly, Smith turned down a job to go to a contending team and instead preferred to go to an organization which he is more familiar with. There should have been more scrutiny about his decision, at least on a national sports talk show, instead of all the homerism on why the Bucs made a great move and why there is all this excitement about Smith in Tampa Bay.

Just our two cents here on OSC Sports Network...

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