<P> After the 1985 Championship season, the Bears remained competitive throughout the 1980s but failed to return to the Super Bowl under Ditka . Between the firing of Ditka and the hiring of Lovie Smith, the Bears had two head coaches, Dick Jauron and Dave Wannstedt . While both head coaches led the team to the playoffs once (Wannstedt in 1994 and Jauron in 2001), neither was able to accumulate a winning record or bring the Bears back to the Super Bowl . Therefore, the 1990s was largely considered to be a disappointment . </P> <P> Before the Bears hired Jauron in January 1999, Dave McGinnis (Arizona's defensive coordinator, and a former Bears assistant under Ditka and Wannstedt) backed out of taking the head coaching position . The Bears scheduled a press conference to announce the hiring before McGinnis agreed to contract terms . Soon after Jauron's hiring, Mrs. McCaskey fired her son Michael as president, replacing him with Ted Phillips and promoting Michael to chairman of the board . Phillips, the current Bears president, became the first man outside of the Halas - McCaskey family to run the team . </P> <P> Lovie Smith, hired on January 15, 2004, is the third post-Ditka head coach . Joining the Bears as a rookie head coach, Smith brought the highly successful Tampa 2 defensive scheme with him to Chicago . Before his second season with the Bears, the team rehired their former offensive coordinator and then Illinois head coach Ron Turner to improve the Bears' struggling offense . In 2005, the Bears won their division and reached the playoffs for the first time in four years . Their previous playoff berth was earned by winning the NFC Central in 2001 . The Bears improved upon their success the following season, by clinching their second consecutive NFC North title during Week 13 of the 2006 season, winning their first playoff game since 1995, and earning a trip to Super Bowl XLI . However, they fell short of the championship, losing 29--17 to the Indianapolis Colts . Following the 2006 season, the club decided to give Smith a contract extension through 2011, at roughly $5 million per year . This comes a season after being the lowest paid head coach in the National Football League . </P> <P> The club has played in over a thousand games since becoming a charter member of the NFL in 1920 . Through the 2010 season, they led the NFL in overall franchise wins with 704 and had an overall record of 704--512--42 (going 687--494--42 during the regular season and 17--18 in the playoffs). On November 18, 2010 the Bears recorded franchise win number 700 in a win against the Miami Dolphins . </P>

When's the last time the bears made the playoffs