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Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing. - John D. Rockefeller

It's easy to say that a coach should support his players when they are struggling - especially if you aren't a fan of that team.  It's apparent in the abstract that if a player is working hard and challenging his abilities, mistakes will happen.  Supporting your players allows them to push the envelope and accept the results — good or bad.

But when that struggling player is on your favorite team, then things seem to get a little more complicated, just ask anyone living in Chicago…

Last week I wrote about Mathias Kiwanuka and his bad week.  I was critical of his coach's unwillingness to publicly support his player.  That stands in stark contrast to the situation in Chicago.  Coach Lovie Smith is sticking with his quarterback, Rex Grossman, even when the entire city is ready to toss Rex into Lake Michigan.

After last week's game (Dec. 3), where the Bears won but Grossman played poorly, Coach Smith was asked repeatedly if he would change quarterbacks.  Rather than review Grossman's problems, or deny that he was struggling, Smith reiterated his support.  "We are 10-2 with Rex as our quarterback", "Rex is our quarterback". "There is a difference between perception and reality, The reality is we are 10-2 with Rex as our quarterback", ad naseum… 

There isn't anyone outside of the Bears organization willing to support Rex Grossman. Lovie Smith's public support of Grossman is costing him support from the public.  When the Bears were undefeated the talk was Grossman for MVP and Smith as Coach of the Year.  Now Grossman couldn't start on a Pee-Wee team and Smith is too stubborn to be an effective coach.  Both of those may be true.  I don't know enough football to make that call.  But even if Smith threw Grossman under the bus it doesn't change the roster, Rex Grossman would still be there and Joe Montana wouldn't.

A coach doesn't have to please anyone, including his team.  But a coach does have to keep his team's respect.  That is where this situation can get difficult for any coach.  How do you support a struggling player without alienating the other players?  That answer is different for every team, but it has to start with communication.  When players and parents know the situation and what you are doing to make things better, you will gain respect and support.  I think that is the approach Lovie Smith is taking — although I don't know that he is including the parents…  Why do I think that?  I haven't read or heard a single player make any comment remotely critical of Grossman.  Not even the guy who would benefit the most — the second string quarterback.

Without so much as a sneer, Brian Griese declined to answer how many snaps Lovie Smith had allotted him Thursday at practice.

"If Lovie wanted you to know that, he'd probably tell you," Griese said calmly. "That's why practices are closed."

Big difference from the Giants situation.  There the coach doesn't hesitate to call his players out publicly and the players don't hesitate doing the same thing.  Yet the Giants are in a free fall, losing four straight coming into this weekend (Dec. 10), they are bickering on the sidelines, complaining in the papers.  I can't imagine there is a lot of positive communication happening there.  Those guys are professionals so they have to stay there — there is too much money at stake to do anything else.  What would happen to your team if you communicated like the Giants? or the Bears?