Veteran LB and team captain of the Bears defense spoke up about head coach Lovie Smith. He thinks Lovie deserves a contract extension. Here is what he said about the situation today.

“Pay him, please,” Urlacher said of Smith. ” It makes no sense to me why he wouldn’t get an extension. He has proven he’s a great coach.”

Lovie Smith has 66 career victories, including three in the playoffs, are the third-most in Bears’ history behind George Halas and Mike Ditka. He has three division titles and three, 11 victory seasons on his record.

“And that’s not fair,” Urlacher said. “Look at the recent history of our team. I think 1985 was the last time we were any good before he came, right? And when Lovie got here, we started winning again.

“Now, if you don’t win 10 or 11 games, it’s disappointing because that’s what people are expecting, because that’s what he expects of us. That’s the standard he’s set for this organization. Before, you’re 8-8 and it’s, ‘OK, we’re getting better. We’re getting more competitive.’ He has gotten us back to where we needed to be.”

“Just look at what Lovie has done for our team,” Urlacher said. “All the experts — which is what really counts, you know — picked us to be dead last in our division. They picked Detroit to be ahead of us. We’re supposed to be 5-11, 6-10, 7-9, according to all the ‘experts.’ We’re the underdogs. We’re lucky. We had an easy schedule. We didn’t beat anybody. But, we’re here. And Lovie’s the one who has done all the work.”

“So we didn’t win a couple of years there. That’s not Lovie’s fault,” Urlacher said. “It wasn’t because we weren’t coached well or weren’t prepared. And this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, so, yes, I think Lovie should get an extension now.”

All quotes from Chicagotribune.com