If you have not read Adam Jahns’ excellent piece in the Sun-Times on Lovie Smith’s impact on the Chicago Bears defense, CLICK HERE AND GO READ IT NOW. An excerpt:

For Tillman, Smith motivated through positive reinforcement. He referred to Tillman as an All-Pro cornerback in defensive meetings even though he wasn’t at that point in his career. It happened whenever the Bears faced the Detroit Lions and star receiver Calvin Johnson.

‘‘He’d be like, ‘They got their best player. We got our best player. I got all the confidence in the world in Peanut,’ ” Tillman said. ‘‘It was the confidence that he had in his players. You really felt it.

‘‘I believe in speaking words into existence. Part of being a coach is motivating your players, and it definitely got me going. My confidence was that much higher.’’

There’s even better stuff in the piece. Part of me wishes something like this had been written while Lovie was still the coach.