The Chicago Tribune David Haugh wasn’t impressed with Lovie Smith’s debut as analyst yesterday on ESPN:

Haugh:

Nobody needs to throw a red challenge flag to review video from Smith’s first media appearance since the Bears fired him. Smith provided indisputable evidence on “SportsCenter” and “NFL Live” that he belongs back on the sideline, not in the studio.

Tony Dungy, he isn’t. Smith came off as genuine but stiff, more like a folksier Eric Mangini. He offered nothing terribly memorable or insightful and said more with what he didn’t say, especially about Jay Cutler.

Coaching on Sundays isn’t as easy as we often made it sound during Smith’s tenure in Chicago and surely now he realizes the same is true about broadcasting. The slight nerves detected in Smith’s voice took Bears fans with good memories back to the day Smith was hired in 2004 before antipathy replaced anxiety during his stints at the microphone.