Lovie Is Part Of A Trend
January 19th, 2015
Whaddya know! A couple of defensive wizards are coaching in the Super Bowl, Pete Carroll and Bill Belicheat.
Yeah, both teams have elite franchise quarterbacks, but the head men are still defensive guys who want to pound the rock and beat you physically and mentally with defense.
Bucs-uniform-frowning, Allie-LaForce-smitten, Big-Ten-Network-hating, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading, NPR-listening, filthy-hotel-staying, fight-instigating, barista-training Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, notes in his column today that defensive-minded head coaches are an emerging NFL trend.
The more notable coaching statistics this month:
All five head-coaching openings before Sunday had been filled by defensive coaches.
Six of the eight teams playing on divisional weekend last week had head coaches with defensive backgrounds, and three of the four coaches in the championship games were defensive-based. And obviously New England and Seattle, the Super Bowl teams, are coached by defensive experts.
King attempts to explain there may be no significance to all of this, but Joe finds that silly.
It’s not a coincidence. But it doesn’t mean teams are less interested in offense. Just take a look at how NFL teams have overvalued quarterbacks in the draft, and how the league has made rule changes to favor offense.
Joe suspects that somehow the analytics crowd is somehow involved with the shift toward defensive-minded head coaches, such as Bucs overlord Lovie Smith. More and more teams are employing stat geeks to help in every decision, from personnel to playcalling.
The Bucs are on their third consecutive defensive-minded head coach. They’re 30-70 in their last 100 games.
January 19th, 2015 at 1:08 pm
Lovie is still Lovie…..
January 19th, 2015 at 1:11 pm
As bad as our offense was last year….a stout defense could have secured enough wins to win the awful division….
We had leads many times that we couldn’t hold. I have no problems with a defensive minded coach….but it’s a simple fact that even if your defense shuts another team out…you need at least 2 points to win….oh, wait…that would be a defensive score!!!
January 19th, 2015 at 1:14 pm
It’s a natural reaction to the rule changes. Offense is going through the roof time for balance. Load the league with D coaches to offset the offensive explosions. makes perfect sense to me.
Lovie is still a mediocre coach who will tease us with a few 8-8 / 9-7 seasons and a wild card birth maybe. He will never win a championship. Lovie is a defensive version of Mike McCarthy… He will get you so far then fail. Time to raise the standards buc fans
January 19th, 2015 at 1:24 pm
Joe…..good time for another Lovie Confidence Poll …..after the Koetter hire…..just curious if it helped him…..my suspicion is….quite a lot….also, we haven’t lost another game.
January 19th, 2015 at 1:27 pm
Time heals all wounds, even Lovie.
January 19th, 2015 at 1:32 pm
A defense can’t hold for a whole quarter without help from the offense
January 19th, 2015 at 1:52 pm
A good running game and a great defense. Its been the same formula for years.
January 19th, 2015 at 1:53 pm
Welcome to Tampa Mr. Leonard Williams
January 19th, 2015 at 2:01 pm
@tmax
All of us were disgusted by this past year. Many of us dislike Dungy ball which is the predecessor to Lovieball.
But you really should give credit where credit is due. Lovie got a team to the Super Bowl with franchise QB? Rex Grossman? Really?
You may dislike someone based on a bad season but if you respect the sport you should still give credit where credit is due.
How many coaches have even reached the Super Bowl?
Lovie has that on his resume and no amount of blogger dislike will ever be able to take that away from him. It is what it is.
January 19th, 2015 at 2:08 pm
++++
Mr. Patrick Says:
January 19th, 2015 at 1:53 pm
Welcome to Tampa Mr. Leonard Williams
A team can not miss with a high 1st round pick
or
trade down twice in the 1st round
January 19th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
I agree with Mr. Patrick, we need that stud better than we need a QB. This team isn’t a quick fix. Going the QB rout will just put us back 5yrs, neither is worthy a 1st pick overall….
January 19th, 2015 at 2:15 pm
I told you guy’s before that this team is built to be physical and to travel well especially in cold weather. This will not be a team built to play like a dome offense because that does not complement the defense. At the very least you get the Bucs defense to play like it did in 2014 and have the o-line play better to support a running game and take time off the clock. The opponents score decreases by a touchdown and the rookie qb would just need to take care of the ball and make the throws on third down.
The opposing defenses will stack the box and make the rookie beat them from the pocket but the rookie will have beast at the wide-outs and tight ends with sims out of the back field that will balance things out. Manning,Brady,Rodgers,etc. can’t throw for 45pts. on the side line. And be honest with 2 or 3 minutes left in a game who thinks that this Bucs defense would choke away a win like greenbay did yesterday?
January 19th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
Just heard a national radio guy interview one of those guys who knows it all and the word there is that Lovie will fall in Lovie with Leonard Williams……
Would that surprise anyone?
January 19th, 2015 at 2:20 pm
@Joe: ‘The Bucs are on their third consecutive defensive-minded head coach. They’re 30-70 in their last 100 games.”
Not sure that I see the relationship. Raheem Morris was much too inexperienced all the way around to have been tagged as a head coach. Greg Schiano had no NFL experience, and apparently didn’t relate well to his players. Lovie Smith has the experience and relates well to his players but … inherited too many players who really didn’t fit the defense he was trying to use. And oh ya, he made some pretty bad free agent choices in his first year.
What do they say? Live and learn … and Lovie will do that I’m convinced. This year I fully expect the Bucs to be considerably better than they were in 2014, on defense, offense and special teams.
January 19th, 2015 at 2:27 pm
Mariota could very well be a stud but on teams like the eagles,saints,cowboys,seahawks(maybe),and chiefs. Winston’s game translates well with every other team in the NFL. You don’t want Mariota because he’d be good somewhere else, you would want Mariota if he’d fit this Bucs team and he doesn’t. You would need to fire this coaching regime and hire a offensive minded coach that would exhaust all resource to make his scheme work. Otherwise you’d make Mariota a wasted draft pick and blame Lovie for him being a bust.
January 19th, 2015 at 2:36 pm
Those other HC are hands off when it comes to offense. They let the OC run the offense. I’m not sure Lovie is doing that.
January 19th, 2015 at 2:42 pm
I’m with all of you who have a none of the above approach to these qbs. Neither is worthy of the first pick. Joe is being short sighted. Just because we don’t take a QB this year doesn’t mean we won’t get one. Nfl history is replete highly drafted qbs who flame out. Let’s build for the long term. Picking between 2 qbs both with flaws is not the only choice!
January 19th, 2015 at 2:45 pm
Why do I get the feeling that the Bucs are picking between Tim Couch or JaMarcus Russell? Mariota isn’t a good enough player to be the #1 overall pick and Winston isn’t a good enough person to be the #1 overall pick. The other players in this draft aren’t exciting either. It’s a terrible draft to be picking #1.
January 19th, 2015 at 2:49 pm
Somebody please listen to Bucnut2!!!!
January 19th, 2015 at 2:54 pm
It’s now 1:55 pm…..do you know where your future frachise QB is?
January 19th, 2015 at 3:08 pm
I will be the first to tell you that you win championships with defense but the last four who played all had franchise qbs leading them. Winston is there take him. Stop with your grudges against the kid. It’s nothing on the field you can complain about with him
January 19th, 2015 at 3:24 pm
What about all the INT’s Wreckless Winston throws ???????
January 19th, 2015 at 3:45 pm
Joe you can throw out Raheems years as a defensive minded coach. His teams were so heinous he surely doesn’t qualify as a defensive expert.
January 19th, 2015 at 3:53 pm
“{Somebody please listen to Bucnut2!!!!”
Gatr…I love Bucnut’s posts and he certainly makes valid points. You’ll forgive me however if I listen to the Bucs and accept their choice.
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
It’s very possible that all three choices are correct. Jameis may be a stud and Marcus may be a stud and yet for team purposes Bucnut could easily be right and we need to trade down to build a better team first.
This doesn’t have to be a zero sum choice where only ONE answer, ONLY one way is the correct choice.
We still have a long way to go. Interviews, tons of research, especially in Tallahassee and Alabama, perhaps combine or pro days or a special workout.
LOTS will go into this decision.
January 19th, 2015 at 4:14 pm
Tom Edrington Says:
January 19th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
Just heard a national radio guy interview one of those guys who knows it all and the word there is that Lovie will fall in Lovie with Leonard Williams……
Would that surprise anyone?
—–
Yes, though Williams MIGHT be the highest rated player in the draft, his position in a 4-3 is either LDE or UT… either way, is LDE a high value pick? We’ve already got the best UT in the game. Randy Gregory has the kind of bend and edge rush that makes Lovie’s D go. I’d have to think it’s either QB or Gregory… unless they think putting Williams at LDE is the answer to the team’s pass rush woes.
January 19th, 2015 at 5:51 pm
StPeteBucsFan — You are correct he went to the Superbowl. Not trying to be smart arse but what have you done for me lately. It was 9 years ago almost. Also remember the year sexy rexy made the Superbowl both green bay and Minnesota were dogs and well Detroit was Detroit.. If I am not mistaken that was the same year with all the favre / gb drama. I see what your saying but it does not mean the game has not past him by which I completely believe it has. I flat out don’t think Lovie can lead us to a Superbowl anything else is garbage you either win the Superbowl or you lose. Too many coaches and players get free passes for wining the Superbowl. It’s one thing if it’s multiple Superbowl but just to make the Superbowl does not do much for me. Again, if Lovie was such a good coach and evaluator he would still be in Chicago. Look at the slow painful death that lovies poor drafts and free agents did to the bears. They are paying the price now just like the bucs are paying the price for Dominick, Schiano and Rah.
January 19th, 2015 at 6:42 pm
@ Brandon
I believe one of the things that analysts are high on Williams is he is believed to be capable of playing any D line position. Bucs could rotate him around to end or next to McCoy depending on down and distance. Matchup nightmares for opposing OC’s
January 19th, 2015 at 7:00 pm
Since when is Belicheat a defensive wizard? The Pats are known for their offense.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:35 pm
Whocares92 Says
“A defense can’t hold for a whole quarter without help from the offense.”
Bullspit. You’ve never heard of a shutout and the defense that scores TDs?
January 19th, 2015 at 10:40 pm
Tampabaybucfan Says:
January 19th, 2015 at 1:11 pm
“As bad as our offense was last year….a stout defense could have secured enough wins to win the awful division….
We had leads many times that we couldn’t hold.”
Smoke and mirrors TBBF. I’m telling you they were tanking the season long before the last game.
This team is not as bad as it’s record shows..but there we’re these 2 QB’s coming out of college see…wink, wink.
January 19th, 2015 at 10:46 pm
Tough for me to believe any professional athlete (especially older guys who’s windows are closing) would be on board with a tank job early on just so the Bucs could be in a position to choose which rookie QB strikes their fancy. Obviously it’s possible, but with all the conditioning and work these guys put in it seems very doubtful they deliberately tanked anything beyond the last game.
January 19th, 2015 at 11:05 pm
I thought those that were of the opinion that “defense wins championships” were “naive” according to this blog, no?
January 20th, 2015 at 3:59 am
Offensive/ defensive-minded, I don’t give a rat’s a$$ Joe.
The coaches in the Super Bowl are excellent at ‘assessing talent’ and (get ready because this is a crazy concept:) COACHING!
Each of our last coaches march one guy after another out just because he either isn’t part of his regime or doesn’t ‘fit his scheme’… which with as much talent that leaves here and succeeds elsewhere, is code for: “I’m pretending and I don’t really know how to get the best out of a player (the definition of coaching)”
Assess, lead, and teach – A successful coach has all 3, none of our past 3 have shown either.
January 20th, 2015 at 11:05 am
How can you be “not sure” about something that has been stated time and time again?
Well, lets see:
As per Wikipedia, his only offensive positions coached was in ’77 as a WR/TE coach. Add in the fact that the one thing the Patriots do the best of any team is take away your best offensive option.
Even this year, who would’ve thought that the smart thing to do would be to put Revis on the #2 receiver and allow Browner to cover the #1 and allow him to take chances since he has safety help?
Yeah, I think its safe to say that Belichick is a defensive head coach, regardless of what his team is known for.
(again, another post that could have been avoided with some very basic and simple research)