The Bears have already sent out letters asking various teams for permission to interview candidates to fill Smith’s job.

The Bears missed the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons despite starting this season 7-1.

The Bears finished 10-6 but were denied a playoff spot when the Vikings beat the Packers on Sunday.

As reports of Smith’s ouster started to surface on Twitter, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was doing “The Jay Cutler Show” on ESPN 1000 and had to leave early.

“I think it’s going to be a sad day at Halas Hall,” Cutler said. “I have a lot of respect for the guy. He’s made friends with a lot of the players. He’s a players’ coach. I think right now I’m a little surprised, a little sad. Wish I could have done more offensively to help him out.”

The 54-year-old Smith, who led the Bears to the Super Bowl after the 2006 season, was 81-63 over eight regular seasons and was 3-3 in the playoffs.

Smith was under contract through 2013, and new general manager Phil Emery did not engage the coach in contract talks on an extension during the season.

Smith was particularly criticized for Chicago’s struggles on offense. Despite have a Pro Bowl receiver in Brandon Marshall and solid players in Cutler and running back Matt Forte, the Bears ranked 28th in total offense. Smith was a defensive coach, but Cutler wouldn’t say if he would prefer an offensive-minded coach to replace Smith.

“I’ve had both,” Cutler said. “There’s pluses and minuses to argue each case. I’m not going to give a preference on what I want, what I don’t want because I don’t really know at this point. I trust Phil and management and George (McCaskey) and those guys to make the best call. They’re going to get the best possible head coach and assistant coaches and coordinators as they can. So you’ve just got to trust in that.”

Smith also struggled to beat Green Bay. The Bears have lost eight of their last nine against the Packers and six straight.

The other big issue was the Bears’ poor finishes under Smith. Chicago lost seven straight December games since 2010 before snapping its skid with a Week 16 victory over the Cardinals. During Smith’s nine seasons, the Bears were 17-19 in December.

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Their continuing correspondence is frank, and Van Gundy has been open about his assessment of the center. Speaking in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Van Gundy was equally blunt, saying Howard’s April back surgery is a definite factor in the center’s performance curve with his new team.

Not so many months ago, there was a moment, or maybe even a few minutes, where Kobe Bryant seemed to lose faith, writes Ramona Shelburne. Story

“I don’t think he looks quite as explosive or as quick as he has in the past,” Van Gundy told the newspaper. “Now, he’s still above almost everyone in the league at that size athletically, but he has not totally looked like himself to me.”

The Lakers acquired Howard in a trade with Orlando in August, three months after the Magic fired Van Gundy not long after reports surfaced that Howard had orchestrated the coach’s ouster.

Howard and Van Gundy repaired their relationship, however, and keep in touch as Van Gundy works for NBC Sports as a college basketball analyst.

The Lakers improved to 15-15 with a win Friday, their sixth in seventh games, with Kobe Bryant again leading the offense with 27 points.

Howard, though, had 21 points and 14 rebounds and is averaging 17.6 points and 11.8 boards.

“It’s a big adjustment for him going from being the guy to not only being the No. 2 guy but really a No. 2 guy that really doesn’t get the ball very much at all,” Van Gundy said. “It’s a different deal and an adjustment he has to make. Those kind of things take time.”

Howard was fined $35,000 last week by the NBA for a flagrant foul 2 against Denver’s Kenneth Faried and has vowed to “do a better job of keeping my composure and not getting frustrated and also remember that I’m playing for my teammates at all times and stay on the right path.” Howard was ejected when he jammed his hand in Faried’s face as the Denver forward drove the lane during the Lakers’ loss Wednesday.

“I think Dwight is going to be more than willing to make the adjustment,” Van Gundy told the Times of his playing more of a supporting role. “But it’s still an adjustment and it takes time mentally too because your ego — and ego is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing, you need it to be great in this league — tells you that you’re supposed to be the man and having to adjust to playing off somebody else is not an easy thing.”

Howard has offered up to Van Gundy his own reasons for the Lakers’ struggles this season.

“The only thing he’s really gotten into was, he wants their defense to be better,” Van Gundy said.

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