Lovie Smith has been quiet since being let go by the Buccaneers, but he isn’t being quiet anymore. While being welcomed to his new job at the University of Illinois, he broke his silence to take a couple of light jabs at his former employers.
“As far as Tampa Bay, you just have to take it. You know, there’s a coach going in the Hall of Fame this summer that was also fired by the Buccaneers so you just take it and move on. I’m not saying that in a bad light, that’s just our profession. That happens. When something like that happens, by me leaving there, it gave me this great opportunity to really have an impact on young men’s lives.”
Lovie Smith also noted that he had no plans to go back to the NFL.
“I signed a six- year contract. I’m not going anywhere. This is the start of the third quarter of my football career. This is where I want to finish my football career. So what better commitment I can show everyone that we’re here for the long haul than that.”
Smith went on to joke about becoming more social-media savvy with this new start.
“I think it’s a misnomer that I’m some old guy that doesn’t know what’s going on right now, and I can adjust to social media right now. I’ll be able to make that switch fairly easy. I don’t have a Twitter account currently but I will get one.”
