By Adam Hoge-

HALAS HALL (CBS) Dave Toub is one of the few assistants who has been with Lovie Smith throughout his nine-year tenure in Chicago.

So you can understand why the Bears’ special teams coordinator is standing alongside Smith until the very end.

“We are very lucky — the Chicago Bears are very lucky to have Lovie Smith and we better realize that. Everybody better realize that,” Toub said Thursday at Halas Hall.

As questions about Smith’s future in Chicago linger, Toub says the head coach has remained steady.

“That’s one thing about Lovie, he’s always going to be the same,” Toub said. “I think that’s a great character trait to have as a head coach. He doesn’t waver. If it is bothering him, he’s not letting the players see it, he’s not letting the coaches see it.”

Toub has his own aspirations of becoming a head coach and will likely receive interest from other teams when the season ends. He has learned a lot from Smith, including how he has handled the heat this season.

“He let’s coaches coach,” Toub said. “He let’s me do my job. He has total trust in everything that I do. As a coach you can’t ask for a better situation. Somebody that is going to let you call — obviously I don’t call everything without going through him — but he lets me design our schemes and doesn’t second-guess what we do. You can’t get a better situation as a coach.”

If Toub doesn’t get a head coaching job elsewhere, he figures to stay with Smith — whether that’s in Chicago or not. For now, he understands the criticism the coaching staff is receiving, but he insists that Smith is the right man for the Bears.

“That’s part of what we do. That’s our profession,” Toub said. “Lovie’s a great coach. He needs to stay here.”

For more Bears coverage throughout the season, follow Adam on Twitter at @AdamHogeCBS.