Lovie Smith goes from QB-challenged to quarterback whisperer

When Lovie Smith was heading up the Bears, troubles getting the quarterback position right were an unfortunate theme running through Jonathan Quinn, Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, Rex Grossman — and that was just 2004. Smith had been handed most of those (Grossman was drafted the year before Smith was hired), and it wasn’t his idea to trade for Jay Cutler, decidedly not a personality fit with the then-Bears head coach.

Matters didn’t appear to be getting a whole lot better when he took over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year and grabbed Josh McCown away from the Bears with a $10 million deal.

When McCown and Mike Glennon didn’t work out, however, Smith and the Bucs were left with the No.…