LOVIE SMITH... FROM TULSA TO THE SUPER BOWL
1/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 23, 2007
Tulsa, Oklahoma - Former University of Tulsa All-America football player Lovie Smith leads his Chicago Bears into Super Bowl XL1 against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, February 5. Smith is in his third season as Chicago's head coach. Bears' Assistant Head Coach and Linebacker Coach Bob Babich is also a Tulsa graduate.
Smith was a strong safety for the Golden Hurricane from 1976-79, and later served as a Tulsa assistant coach. He was a three-time all-Missouri Valley Conference selection and was named second-team All-America by the Associated Press following his junior campaign in 1978. Smith started every game for three seasons at Tulsa and totaled 367 career tackles.
As a freshman, Smith totaled 90 tackles, including six for -16 yards, while being named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year. As a sophomore in 1977, he was credited with 120 tackles and five stops for -16 yards. He tallied 92 tackles in his junior campaign and had 65 stops as a senior. He was an honorable mention All-America performer as a sophomore and senior.
Smith, who coached linebackers at Tulsa from 1983-86, was inducted into The University of Tulsa's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
It's no surprise that Smith has become an outstanding NFL coach after such a tremendous collegiate playing career. Larry Marmie, who served as Tulsa's defensive coordinator, said of Smith in his sophomore season, "he's an outstanding player and outstanding person. He's also extremely coachable. He'll break his neck to try and do things the way the coach wants. He usually gets it right the first time." Smith's Chicago Bears' team appears to play the way their coach once did.
Smith is not the only former Hurricane star to be coaching in the Super Bowl. His assistant head coach and linebacker coach, Bob Babich, was a linebacker at Tulsa from 1981-82 after transferring from Mesa (Calif.) Community College. Babich also served as an assistant coach with the Hurricane.
As a junior, Babich tallied 60 tackles in his first season wearing a Hurricane uniform. As a senior in 1981, he was the school's leading tackler with 102 stops and added four interceptions from his linebacker position.
After graduation, Babich served as a student coach and graduate assistant at his alma mater. He was a full-time assistant coach for the Hurricane from 1985-87. He returned to Tulsa as a volunteer coach under Dave Rader in 1990. Babich also came back to Tulsa in January 1997 for a brief stint, before being named the head coach at North Dakota State later that month.
Smith is a native of Big Sandy, Texas, while Babich hails from Aliquippa, Pa.
