Bears players like Hunter Hillenmeyer, Brian Urlacher and Adewale Ogunleye (Who might not be back next season) all spoke up over the past few days about head coach Lovie Smith. It’s clear they wanted him back and they thought it would be a big mistake if he was let go. The players respect him a lot.

Defensive linemen Anthony Adams and Israel Idonije spoke up about Lovie Smith returning to the Bears to coach the 2010 season.

Adams: “It’s a sigh of relief, he’s a good guy and a good coach. And we all believe in him. We just have to do a better job in doing our part. I feel like I owe him so much. For whatever reason, it just hasn’t been happening for us. Even if he wasn’t going to be here, he just wanted to make it as normal as possible,’ you don’t want people freaking out. That’s what would have been happening.”

Idonije: “To lose a great coach like coach Smith would have been a tragedy, as a team we have to fix some things. We will fix those things and get better. I don’t think our head coach was a part of the problem.”

All quotes from chicagotribune.com