Method To His Madness
May 29th, 2017
Calculated
It’s been nearly two weeks since offensive coordinator Todd Monken shared a conversation he had with DeSean Jackson, in which Monken told Jackson the Bucs are paying him for production now, not for what he did in Washington or Philadelphia.
Also note that Monken praised Jackson for his intelligence and said Jackson understood this.
Bucs fans reacted in two ways: outrage that Monken had the nerve to call out a player like Jackson; or applause for Monken’s refreshing blast of honesty — keeping it real.
But was Monken (and Jackson) really keeping it real?
Joe has suspicions.
As many of you likely heard on the recent Ira Kaufman Podcast (and if you are not listening the Custodian of Canton offer his wisdom on podcasts twice a week, what the hell is the matter with you?) the topic of Monken-Jackson came up and there may be a lot more going on behind the scenes.
The more Joe thinks about this kerfuffle, the more it just screams like a move taken directly from the Bobby Knight/Bill Parcells playbook of coaching.
(Trivia: Close friends Knight and Parcells were once roommates as assistant coaches at Army. In fact, when Knight became head basketball coach at Army, Parcells worked for him part-time after football season to help make ends meet.)
Knight, of course, became famous when he took over Indiana University in 1971. He was notorious for taking a stud player, often a senior, and mercilessly hounding the guy practice after practice. Sometimes, Knight would pull a guy aside in a private meeting and tip him off what was coming (as he reportedly did with Steve Alford). Why did Knight do this? He believed if a coach hounded an established veteran, specifically a star, younger teammates would think, ‘Damn, if he’s going after [pick a name], I better get my rear end in gear.”
Knight talked about performing this act with Michael Jordan in the 1984 Olympics.
Of course, Parcells was famous for pulling similar mind tricks with Lawrence Taylor in an effort to get Taylor frothing at the mouth to mangle an opposing quarterback.
The more Joe thinks about this, Monken pulled a Bobby Knight or Bill Parcells with Jackson.
It became very clear last week that winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter is annoyed with all the playoff talk in the community and on the airwaves, both locally and nationally… during underwear football season no less! The Bucs are loaded with young players in the passing game: Mike Evans, Cam Brate, Adam Humphries and rookies O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin. And, naturally, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, is entering his third season.
It sure smells to Joe like Monken went up to DJax at some point and told him he was going to make a public example of him in an effort to motivate the younger players.
May 29th, 2017 at 2:59 am
Nice try Joe…. But no, Moken just showing his true Jack Ass ways!
May 29th, 2017 at 3:41 am
Oh yeah, Jacksons’s got really real jackass ways..the jackass ways that have resulted in an almost 20 yrd average completion percentage every year of his pro career…that’s some real jackassery there.
Real good insight and discernment here joes, think you guys got this one solved. Kudos to Monken if its right.
May 29th, 2017 at 3:44 am
And Monkens got real jackassery ways showing here too right? Emulating Parcels and Knight… What did those guys ever accomplish right? Smh…
May 29th, 2017 at 6:43 am
Monken is man searching for an identity. Lost in the shadow of Koetter.
May 29th, 2017 at 7:28 am
First it was Monken showing off….trying to make a name for himself with the media….now he’s trying to make an example of Djax for the younger players…..I can’t wait to see what it is next week.
May 29th, 2017 at 8:56 am
This is simply who Todd Monken is. I remember when I was at one of the training camps last year towards the end and Kenny Bell thought the players were done and went over to sign autographs. However, the receivers were not down and had to go through one more exercise. When Monken saw him, he exploded…”what the hell are you doing, get your ass over here!” I thought it was gruden yelling. HE carries a BMFS!
May 29th, 2017 at 8:57 am
Here’s hoping that Monkin doesn’t read the bufoonery posted on this site. It’s the silly season for sure.
May 29th, 2017 at 9:03 am
This is why I wanted Pryor ove Jackson. I live I DC an saw first hand how little this dude cares. “I just wanna go fast.” He’s like 4 year old Ricky Bobby mixed with Allen Iverson.
Doesn’t want to practice, doesn’t want to work out, then will go full Doug Martin in week 3 pull a hammy and be out til week 12.
May 29th, 2017 at 9:08 am
“It’s always about the players. It’s what this game has always been about,” he added. “It’s about you helping them become the best version of them. Plain and simple, that’s what it’s about.” Todd Monken.. Just sayin’
May 29th, 2017 at 9:45 am
Considering it’s not even training camp yet, I really hope there’s not alot going on behind the scenes.
May 29th, 2017 at 11:16 am
Both monken and koetter are terrible
May 29th, 2017 at 12:57 pm
Monken was still wrong for calling out a player whom had not even hit the Bucs field. And you have heard no more from him on the issue. Why? Because Koetter called him in and..pulled his shirt tail! BEsides a player like Jackson whose been in the league for a minute knows whats expected of him. This ain’t Tampa catholic HS Monken. You are suppose to be a..mature NFL caoch..Start acting like one. Nough said.
May 29th, 2017 at 1:38 pm
Quit your whining. It doesnt matter why Monken did what he did. His job is to get the most out of his players by whatever means necessary. God forbid he actually wants to hold players accoutable. “But he might make D-Jax angry!” So?…
May 29th, 2017 at 3:25 pm
Dirk can be as mad as he wants to national media about playoff talk, but not local media and fans. I don’t know if Dirk realizes but this is the most excited this city has ever been (especially on offense) going into a season. Us locals actually are keeping up with the Bucs and not just the names and numbers. Let us Tampa Bay area folk remain excited and positive Dirk.
May 29th, 2017 at 5:21 pm
Offseason speculative drama. Next subject…
May 30th, 2017 at 9:51 am
Pryor over Jackson?!!? because of character concerns? you must not know anything about pryor LMAO
Mike, you’re an idiot.
May 30th, 2017 at 11:26 am
Note to Couch Fan..This ain’t 1917 buddy, its 2017. Theres a reason Monken has a bad track record and is not a head coach in any type of program. But dense folk like you..can’t seem to figure it out.
May 30th, 2017 at 5:16 pm
When you bring up the amount of money a man makes it can make you sound jealous and petty. Monken is in his second year as the (insert laugh here)OC and I dont remember him publicly dressing down Vincent Jackson about his level of play, his production and hos level of pay . Real simple this guy was wrong and out of place with this conversation. Thirty years ago my father told me that a real man never discusses another mans wife or his money in public, and this advice has served me well. JUST COACH MONKEN. GO BUCCS !!!!!