Joel Glazer Talks Evaluating A General Manager, Fan Frustration, Storytelling
April 2nd, 2018
Perched in a quiet corner of the stately Ritz-Carlton Grand Lakes in Orlando last week, billionaire-family member and Buccaneers co-owner Joel Glazer joined blustery blogger Joe for their annual sit down.
Oh, what fun it is.
Joe will take a few seconds here to suggest Team Glazer should emerge for public consumption more often, say, three times a year. Fans love hearing from ownership. It helps connect them to their team — no matter the team — in ways that cannot be duplicated. Plus, Team Glazer loves the Bucs. They ooze pewter and red from every orifice. Joe thinks the Bucs definitely would have a more committed fan base if the average fan felt a little more of the fiery passion pulsating through the guys calling the shots.
Alright, Joe is off the soapbox!
Back to Team Glazer, Joe had the following verbatim exchange below:
It’s a great look inside the raw passion of the owner. Joe didn’t ask about fans, frustration or patience, but Glazer went there.
JoeBucsFan.com: Can you talk about the evaluation of a general manager, how difficult that is and what goes into that when you have to figure out, ‘Are we on the right path but we’re 5-11’?
Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer: A lot goes into it and, you know, I think one of the positive signs in any situation is re-signing your own players. And when you start getting on a trend that you’re re-signing your own players, that means you are drafting well. If you’re drafting well, generally that means you’re going to start having success. So you saw Cameron Brate and Mike Evans [re-signed]. We got a couple of young guys with contracts that are coming up that we know we’re going to want to keep. So that to me is the most positive sign of, you know, what’s happening with the general manager. There’s lots of aspects to the whole thing, not just drafting, there’s free agency and ultimately your record. So it’s one of those things that tells its own story over time. Again, we’re frustrated. I know a lot of our fans are frustrated. And when you get in this cycle of it’s been a while since we’ve had success, the magnification and spotlight get so great year to year and they want to change directions and change things. And I get it. Listen, we got to remind ourselves sometimes. You have to have some patience and look for the positives. People like to point to coaching; well, you also have to have the players. Injuries play a factor, and all these things. So Dirk [Koetter] was 9-7, all the positives coming out of that season. We had last season, which was below anybody’s hopes and expectations. We’re focused on this year and we’ve added clearly in areas where we needed to add, and we still have the draft.
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:04 am
At least Team Glazer are better owners than Stu Sternberg and his co owners. No question about it !
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:09 am
And lets not forget when it was noted that they tell their coaches/gm’s
I think with the amount of money that Licht has spent this year on quality talent, Team Glazer is expecting some measure of success. What they determine success might be unknown (winning record, playoffs, etc), but i think that with the proven defensive players that have been brought in and their complete revamp of the defensive line, Smith will get the boot if the defense plays like ass again.
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:10 am
Mr Glazer says:
“you have to have some patience and look for the positives. People like to point to coaching; well, you also have to have the players.”
Wow!!! What a huge shot towards joe!!!! I wonder if joe got the hint???????? I guess Mr Glazer agrees with “The Buc Realist” assessment of the status woe campaign or rather the status whine campaign!!!!!!!!!!!! Huge drop of the truth, and I hope the sheep don’t miss that huge nugget that Mr Glazer dropped!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:28 am
Well I think the fans of Tampa have been more than patient,it’s been bad decisions by ownership beginning with the gruden firing,Morris and schiano hiring,and we don’t know about Dirk yet.if they don’t win this year then the glazers need to hire a football guy first and let him do the hiring of a coach!names that come to mind are charley casserly or Bill polian.go bucs!
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:35 am
Walterfootball thinks we grossly overpaid for Cameron Brate.
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:36 am
One dark horse name for a GM is Eric decosta, been under Ozzie in Baltimore and is a smart young mind!
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:43 am
They are still on the “it takes time” philosophy?
It seems like 90% of the new Head coaches since 2015 have led their new teams to the playoffs. Rams, Vikings, Lions to name a few.
4 years later the Bucs are still trying to sell you on the “it takes time mantra”. Child please.
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:43 am
@John Meeks
It has already been announced the Eric Decosta is GM for Ravens next year!!!
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:51 am
You have to have the players is exactly correct.
There is no cap on scouting.
Glazer Bros you have to put more resources and creativity into scouting.
You do that… You will be in the hunt every year
April 2nd, 2018 at 12:19 pm
Article translation:
Glazer: We’re hoping for the best.
Glazer: We’re raising ticket prices.
April 2nd, 2018 at 12:27 pm
Walter football can think what they want and say what they want, they don’t have skin in the game.
April 2nd, 2018 at 12:31 pm
I’ve attended a few “ship parties” which select season ticket holders can go to. Essentially it’s an exclusive 90 minute tailgate on the pirate ship before any other fans are allowed in the stadium. It’s catered (with unlimited beer and wine) and the food is great. The first one I attended Joel Glazer made his way down and mingled with the fans. He chatted with me and a buddy for about 15 minutes. He was very unpretentious and unrushed during our conversation and as Joe said it was clear he loved his team. I’ve never been a Glazer basher. The Bucs had one of the all time worst owners in sports history with Culverhouse. We could do far, far worse than the Glazer family.
April 2nd, 2018 at 12:38 pm
Bring in SAQUON.
Everyone take a deep breath.
Saquon take us to 10-6 minimum next year (singlehandedly flipping the 3-7 one scores games 2017 to 6-4 minimum 2018), and also simultaneously flips the NFC South record of the Saints, Panthers, Falcons to 1-2 losses more per team in our divisional games due to Bucs offense occupying the ball (time of possession FAR MORE than in prior years against those other NFC South QB’s now on the bench longer, plus the obvious defensive blows that he creates in a myriad of ways including game planning, etc.).
Pick SA-QUON, Say-gone to NFC South cellar status and flip the division!! Everything else will take care of itself.
Go Bucs!
April 2nd, 2018 at 12:44 pm
coaches have to have the players……ok….so licht went out and got some players…..players that are talented and proven……
I think the biggest nugget is glazer saying:
“We’re focused on this year and we’ve added clearly in areas where we needed to add, and we still have the draft.”
that’s statement is very telling!!!!!!……glazer is basically saying, you have your staff, you have the players, now go out and win!!!….NO MORE EXCUSES!!!!
IRMA, injuries, SOS, no bye week, lack of dline talent, lack of dline depth, no run game, lovie, DOM, lack of execution wont help you this year!!!!!…..
NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!
April 2nd, 2018 at 12:51 pm
Realist
Just because the Glazers said it doesnt make it so. Nor does it mean they mean it. They decided to keep the staff for at least another year. Be patient for once. Dirk even said last year was the most talent he ever had on a team. So Realist….I ask you…let me know after the draft if ya want. Did licht find enough talent for Dirk to have a winning season this year? Or we gona have this same discussion next? More “talented” players sure arent gona help his game and clock management, nor his overall philosophy. You can keep up with your posts if ya want, just so you can repost and say youre right if so. It doesnt change the fact the team had more talent than half the playoff teams last year. Most games are one score games. Which teams coaches will find a way to make that one score go their way. That and turnovers are the difference in a league full of equal “talent “
April 2nd, 2018 at 12:53 pm
When a staff doesn’t know their running back has lost it or they don’t tell their dB s how to line up outside of a 10 yard window you may be a lil less patient. Those two items were a huge factor is allot of losses and are out of the ordinary for a professional staff.
Before someone comments the 10 yard dB comment was directly from M Smith and no he wasn’t kidding . And it shows in the results !!!
April 2nd, 2018 at 12:53 pm
I think Licht can get the job done. Better yet, I hope he can get the job done. DerpK, I’m not so sure about. He has a serious problem learning from his mistakes and they’re plentiful. Agree with injuries, all teams have them, but some players are prone to them and the Bucs seem to find those players. I don’t think the Bucs place near enough emphasis on strength and conditioning. Yoga and stretching are things they should look at. I’m sorry, but no pro athlete earning millions of dollars should be fat or out of shape. This is big problem with the Bucs. GMC is perfect example of Fat, lethargic and injury prone. I don’t care how good his “get off” is, he has few great plays compared to the enormous amount of bad plays. And that’s when he isn’t injured. GMC is officially a bust imo. The Bucs don’t need him and a trade can net huge gains for the team. Do it now before his value drops more due to age and certain injuries he’ll sustain this year. Why are they so committed to GMC when he brings the line down? It should be the other way around. Look at his numbers since he was drafted. Anyone else would have been gone after 3-4 seasons yet he’s still here. When you decided to rebuild the line, do it all 100% including McCoy and Golston. Package deal trade. Hit the road boys. We want to win and you two epitomize the losing culture. Seeya!
April 2nd, 2018 at 1:13 pm
Issic haggins Says:
“When a staff doesn’t know their running back has lost it or they don’t tell their dB s how to line up outside of a 10 yard window you may be a lil less patient.”
Right on. I’m out of patience. They need to produce in 2018.
April 2nd, 2018 at 1:27 pm
A good question Joe and a great answer by Joel Glazer. They did the right thing by “staying the course” this year. Too much turnover the past 10 years has kept this franchise in a state of constant “transition” and leads to letting too many good players go too often because the new regime always has “other” ideas.
Of course another 6-10 season would make that decision to “stay the course” look pretty bad in retrospect so its a risk either way. I don’t see that happening though. Bucs will be plenty talented to “compete” in 2018. If the Bucs DO lay an egg again this year – then Koetter and Co. will be jettisoned – and rightfully so.
Jason Licht is not going anywhere unless he were to somehow screw up this draft royally – which seems a near impossibility considering our position and JL’s more than solid drafting history.
April 2nd, 2018 at 1:38 pm
It’s funny how some only preach patience when it suits them (Hello Lovie!).
The, quote;unquote, real fans see through the B.S. ALL teams have injury problems and lets not be so quick to dismiss Licht’s draft flaws either.
Sugar coat it all you want, this is a “do or die” year for Dirk and a host of players.
BigMac- Respectfully, you could categorize 75-80% of our team that way. Nobody has won anything and every single player except a handful have been injured. Is Jameis fat and lazy? Kwon? LVD? ME? DJax? Grimes? Marpet? Brate? Howard? Should I go on?!
Or, like so many here, just have an axe to grind because you don’t like smiling DTs who make Pro Bowls? T-E-A-M game.
April 2nd, 2018 at 1:44 pm
All the free agents could be busts this year, and the Glazers would STILL keep Jason Licht.
Why?
Because they know how hard it is to find a GM who can draft. Free agency doesn’t last. Draft picks do, when chosen right.
April 2nd, 2018 at 2:10 pm
GMC a bust, okay LOL!!!!
April 2nd, 2018 at 2:11 pm
If it was only a matter of selecting players, a coach and a GM, the Bucs would be in the play-offs every four years or so. Think deeper, Gang…
April 2nd, 2018 at 2:29 pm
I sure would like to see a vet RB and CB signed
April 2nd, 2018 at 2:31 pm
I can believe the Glaziers are possibly good people but let’s not get so hyped about their comments. Most of us here posting could have answered that question exactly the same way and with far more color. Besides Dungy and Gruden they’ve lopped the heads off of 3 HC’s 2 of which were suspect and i never liked (Morris and Schiano)and now we have Koetter. If Koetter gets fired this year which is very likely then what will their new excuse be? We need a FO guru like Coughlin to help this family because they make no sense regardless of their passion. They know how to make a dollar not a Buc.
April 2nd, 2018 at 2:35 pm
I’ve been critical of the Glazers and I wasn’t in the pro-sitting-pat crowd, at all. I argued for what Jonnydestiny suggested: “If you’re going to stand pat, coaches, gm, minimal FA expenditure, then upgrade the infrastructure.”
So, this thread is a good place to make suggestions. A “What we wish Joe had asked” comment stream.
Mine is: “What improvements have we made to the backbone infrastructure? To the pro scouting? The college scouting? The area scouting? The medical staff? The analytics team?”
April 2nd, 2018 at 2:40 pm
I think the Bucs are correct to not do much this offseason in terms of coaching, you can not change your head coach every 2 years and think you’re going to win anything. The mistake was firing Lovie, there was no need to do so and it set back Winston at least a little by taking the OC away from him. Dirk as an OC was a much much better fit and I think it’s obvious he’s overwhelmed as HC, had Lovie stayed in place this wouldn’t have been an issue. Now the issue is you have a DC who should be the HC, and you have an HC that needs to be the dedicated OC. The Glazers should have fixed that probably by giving Mike Smith the “assistant” head coaching title and then hired a real DC, while telling Dirk to concentrate on offense. Remember that Gruden when he was here he was HC/OC, but he basically left the defense to Monte to run as he saw fit, meanwhile this offseason Dirk has said he’s going to be more involved with the defense instead of concentrating on the offense. I doubt it ends well, but we shall see.
April 2nd, 2018 at 2:47 pm
Please Rod. You’re comments are usually so good. No way we could’ve kept Lovie AND Dirk. He was the leading candidate for like every open position that year. One had to go.
April 2nd, 2018 at 2:48 pm
@Gambelero…medical staff for sure. What NFL franchise in the last 20+ years has allowed Mersa or the Flu possibly effect their outcome? Oh yeah, we have. It’s inexcusable to allow those things to be factors when 31 other teams are able to avoid it for years. Yes, I know other players on teams have been sick or gotten the Flu before but not on our level..and they never got friggin Mersa.
April 2nd, 2018 at 3:26 pm
Primary purpose of medical staff would be to diagnose and treat injuries,not infectious diseases. A certain local hospital also had chronic problems with Mersa.
and they struggled to get rid of it with a staff that was much more equipped to deal with it.
April 2nd, 2018 at 3:38 pm
“If ifs and buts were candies and nuts we’d all have a merry Christmas”
April 2nd, 2018 at 4:02 pm
Jones: and the Sweezy thing and Jameis shoulder…
Eric: very good. I’m thinking Thomas Tull (without looking it up)
April 2nd, 2018 at 4:08 pm
Your right Bob but it’s still mind boggling to me. Also comparing a healthcare facility that large to our locker room and other facilities is very very different. That could’ve been handled much better, especially the Flu outbreak.
April 2nd, 2018 at 4:16 pm
The approach to Jameis’ shoulder was sloppy true so we have to assume Sweezy was nothing short of a possible sloppy diagnosis (as far as how limited Sweezys movement might be). They had most of trading camp and preseason to see how he’d fare. Sweezy wasn’t horrible but he sure wasn’t the player he used to be.
April 2nd, 2018 at 4:16 pm
*training camp
April 2nd, 2018 at 4:43 pm
MRSA, not mersa or the mersa.
MRSA stands for :
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, a type of bacteria which can infect the skin and soft tissues and other sites, and is resistant to usual antibiotics, and is therefore more difficult to eradicate (longer treatment protocols with different antibiotics like vancomycin).
The influenza virus is principally spread by respiratory droplets, i.e. by someone sneezing or coughing in your general direction. It is also thought to be spread by fomites as well, though not as well. A fomite is typically an object contaminated with these droplets and subsequently touched by a person who then inoculates his eyes, nose or mouth. Short of wearing a mask and isolating infected persons, there are no easy measures, though frequent hand-washing is probably the best defense.
tickrdr
April 2nd, 2018 at 4:45 pm
So we are blaming the bucs for players getting the flu? We had people die from this season flu ie kids, elderly, 22 year old personal trainers etc. This is what im talking about when i say some of you just love to complain no matter how ridiculous the argument. Did those of you whining about the flu see the great organization of the patriots have to fight the flu the week of the super bowl? We are a very uneducated fan base. Fyi….the bucs were not the only locker room affected with the flu in the nfl, nba nhl this year. Jesus some of you
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:02 pm
Not blaming the players blaming the staff for not containing certain people and letting it spread and our situation was very different from the other organizations because their staff stepped in and contained their problem. I bitch about one thing and your world comes crumbling down. I also mentioned that I know other organizations had their own issues with the Flu but not with as many players and none of them ever dealt with Mersa either.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:15 pm
I didn’t know the definition of MRSA so thank you (Not being sarcastic) but I do know how deadly it can be.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:17 pm
Thats what i mean. You cant blame the staff for the flu. The flu lies dormant in the body for 3 days and one morning you wake feeling like you have been hit by 3 semi trucks. During those three days you could be spreading it because you dont even know you have it. Stop trying to play the blame game. Its ridiculous. Teams whether it nba, nhl or nfl had to deal with the flu this year. And to say the bucs had it worst is just you being the typical whining buc fan with no facts to back it up.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:24 pm
Man you like whine, bitch and moan. We all saw what happened you just can’t take your rose colored glasses off and I can bitch about whatever I want. I’ll never go all tmax about it but what makes you the expert? It’s my opinion and you don’t have to like it but you haven’t proven me wrong about anything. Somewhere there’s a unicorn crying snowflake tears made of Elton John songs for you.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:25 pm
gambelero – Dirk was interviewed for one team if my memory serves right and that was the 49ers, and he didn’t get it. The hype at the time was that Dirk was a hot coordinator AND at the time I said if it truly was Dirk or Lovie, then keep Dirk, but that hot market never panned out. I think the Bucs conned themselves into believe Dirk would be a hot commodity, but you can just watch him do interviews and watch him on Hard Knocks and see why teams never viewed him as head coaching material. If there was an offer out there then OK, but nothing like that has ever surfaced to the best of my knowledge.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:26 pm
Daddy Glazer Malcolm was a peach. Just let me know the next time an owner takes off his shoe and starts banging it on the table at the owners annual meeting and screaming ” I delivered the new stadium and I want the Super Bowl I was promised”. Joel and Bryan could be way more visible and engaged. However , when you say a lot more on the record , you can be held accountable much easier…………..just saying.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:28 pm
The week before the afc championship game, 15 employees including 4 players were battling the flu. Did the bucs have a week where 15 employees had the flu at one time? Just because you say something does not make it so.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:43 pm
The thinnest piece of paper in the world has two sides. Look how they handled it and compare that to our situation. The Steelers were far more aggressive about getting their guys back and nipping it in the bud. It’s the reason they’ve had more success and been to more championship games than we have. There’s a competency level that out weighs ours.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:45 pm
November 29th the denver post talks about the flu bug affecting the denver locker room ie siemien and multiple defensive players. Feb. 1st 2018 usa today published article of how timmy jernigan, mychal kendricks and ronald darby all sick with the flu week of the super bowl. I can do this all day. Yea its your opinion but if you are the type to like to have opunions when facts speak otherwise than so be it. You are the typical buc fan that has the rest of the sports world laughing at this base. Hey lets sprout false facts and justify it by saying its my opinion. Educate yourself. Many teams dealt with the flu this year and every year.
April 2nd, 2018 at 5:49 pm
Week of the vickings game, the bucs had the flu bug. Only swaggy baker missed the game. Im not seeing where the bucs dropped the ball with handling the flu. Again you are using your opinion as fact when actual facts tell a different story
April 2nd, 2018 at 6:03 pm
To get so angry about this is a joke. I am educated about it but how it was handled once again speaks to the competency of the personell and that’s mainly my point but you’ve latched onto one specific aspect of it and created a new narrative for yourself just to try to be right.
April 2nd, 2018 at 6:32 pm
Im not upset. You keep talking about how it was handled and they handled like every other team. Whats a joke is fans continuing to spew false narratives. Again the bucs only had one player miss a game this year and that was the lazy swaggy baker. No coincedence he is no longer on the team. You keep talking about how they handled it without facts to back it up. Ive provided multiple facts. And no, your opinion is not educated about this topic period.
April 2nd, 2018 at 6:38 pm
And i did not change any narrative. You complained about the bucs handling of the flu. I called bs and provided examples of other teams who also battled the flu where multiple players had the flu like the bucs. How did i change the narrative? Thats right i didnt. I just turn your uneducated “opinion” on its head. Again, educate yourself. The flu bug should not be a reason why we are complaining.
April 2nd, 2018 at 8:46 pm
Tonight I found an unbiased rating of each NFL Team’s drafting for the last five years. The lowest rating was a C minus for the Cleveland Browns by Lindy’s 2018 Draft Issue. Since four of the last five drafts by the Bucs were chosen by Licht he had 80 per cent ownership of their rating of the Bucs last five drafts. To hear the biased evaluation by a Glazier Brother you would expect at least a B Plus grade for us, wouldn’t you? But here is the true unbiased reality instead: the next worst grade by Lindy’s was “C” and they rated four NFL Teams had a five year grade of C and our Tampa Bay Buccaneers was one of the four that rated C. It didn’t have any consideration of Licht’s well known Free Agent Failures over the last four years, or we may have come out lower than the Browns. That is reality!
April 2nd, 2018 at 10:42 pm
Owylkat
4 out of the past 5 years? So you are blaming licht for johnathan banks, glennon, means etc? Thats an f draft class for dominick. If you grade licht on his drafts alone, its at least a B. Its only a C because dominick last draft was horrible ie F!!! Educate yourself
April 2nd, 2018 at 10:48 pm
Oh…akeem spence and mike james was part of that 1st year in the past 5 years. There were no stars drafted. Licht has drafted stars 3 of the past 4 years including udfa brate. He definitely gets a B. Stop tripping
April 2nd, 2018 at 11:54 pm
“If Koetter gets fired this year which is very likely then what will their new excuse be? We need a FO guru like Coughlin to help this family because they make no sense regardless of their passion. They know how to make a dollar not a Buc.”
Need a real football mind instead of the three stooges. The Glazers are morons.
April 3rd, 2018 at 2:15 am
I’ll find it hard to ever fault the Glazers for anything because they actually brought a Super Bowl championship to Tampa. As someone who’s been a fan since year one, that thought of them winning it all seemed like an impossibility. Yeah, you might say it was because of their father, but it was happened. I’m sure these guys want nothing more than winning another one for their father.
Joe, related to your comment about the fans and “fiery passion,” even when the team sucked for years you could still hear the passion in the stands. I had season tickets for years and felt that after the Super Bowl season the fans became “fat and happy” and lost their fire. It felt like you were inside a big library at some of those games. I moved away and went to a game in 2016 for the first time in ten years– the Bears game with Winston’s amazing scramble and completion to Evans. I could not believe how dead the crowd was. It was really sad. Hopefully things turn around soon.