Brooks’ Respect Elevated Lovie
January 7th, 2014
Mike Alstott weighs in
The A-Train, Mike Alstott, was among the ex-Buccaneers in the house yesterday when Team Glazer unveiled Lovie Smith as the 10th head coach in Bucs history.
Alstott had all kinds of great things to say about Lovie, and the two men, who clearly hadn’t seen each other years, embraced and talked about getting together as the crowd thinned out.
Joe asked Alstott if there was a time or moment when Lovie was a Bucs linebackers coach that let Alstott know Lovie was head-coach material.
Alstott explained that the level to which Derrick Brooks revered Lovie resonated throughout the Bucs during the Tony Dungy era.
“When you have the best linebacker in the history of football that respects the coach immensely, and [Lovie’s] a father figure, you know, there’s just so much respect for that whole era of coaches that we had underneath Dungy,” Alstott said.
Alstott talked about how Lovie is a “big technique guy” and praised his “mentoring ability.”
Backhanded shots at Greg Schiano, Chucky and Raheem Morris were not Alstott’s goal, and he referenced that he wasn’t trying to bash prior regimes, but Alstott emphasized repeatedly that current Bucs are “going to be treated as a man” and that will make a difference.
He also said Lovie and the brand of football he’ll deliver should restore that “hunger” and “desire” for fans to get back in the stadium “and onto the bandwagon.”
January 7th, 2014 at 9:17 am
Even with the concerns I have, I am excited. At least we know the defense will be fun to watch. I think Lovie is a great coach. Hopefully he can get something going on “O”
January 7th, 2014 at 9:45 am
Lovie brings one thing we can all rally around…hope.
January 7th, 2014 at 9:52 am
So it is spoken by the A Train…. treated as a man…. word.
January 7th, 2014 at 10:04 am
from dictator and control freak to teacher/coach that will treat them as men(beyond Buccaneer Mean). That is a good working and learning environment. If Schiano indeed cleaned up the locker room, these young men coached by Lovie will be in a position to grab the bull by its horns and make RJ stadium a place for us to go to again.
The Laughing Stock label is a thing of the past. The REAL buccaneer football is coming back, baby!
This feels better than any win this year. Lets Go Bucs!!!
January 7th, 2014 at 10:50 am
We all have concerns since the Bucs didn’t name someone immensely popular and focused on offense. While we would love to see an offense capable of putting up 30-50 points a game, we know the Bucs have been, and always will be, a defnse focused franchise.
I am caustiously optimistic about the future. One thing we have missed is a cocky swagger that’;s backed up ont he field. I long for the days when Sapp would run his mouth and back it up on the field. I loved when someone would make a huge play and crawl around like a bulldog. And who didn’t love Simeon dancing as the defense prepared to rattle some cocky QB.
We need that swagger back. We need the confidence. We need the league to know that the Bad old Bucs are back. That will fill seats and end black-out.
Finally, I don’t think the Glazers will be satisfied by just defending the end zone and cocky-talk. I think they want offense too. We shall see.
January 7th, 2014 at 10:55 am
You can say what you want about Lovie’s offenses. If he gets that right QB it will be a thing of the past. Still, Bears offenses usually somewhere around the #23 mark…. that’s a lot better than #32, we have nowhere to go but up.
January 7th, 2014 at 11:30 am
Sure feels like family again seeing old veterans like Mike A-Train Alsott back in the mix n backing Lovie.
January 7th, 2014 at 11:46 am
We’ve been watching garbage football for 5+ years. Lovie Ball is going to look great!
January 7th, 2014 at 11:58 am
Can’t wait when game 1 & you see Mason & David faking/bring that double A gap blitz that Lovie LOVES so much!…it’s gonna be special I tell ya!…the offense wouldn’t be top 5 but it will be more than respectable to get us to the playoffs…then @ that point ANYTHING can happen in regards to the Super Bowl (dare I say)
January 7th, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Glad to see some of the old gang coming back in to the fold, I’ve recently turned 60 and have seen way too many Bucs’ seasons fall short. It would be nice to see a decade or so of Bucs dominance here before I go up to the Big Stadium! Go Bucs!!
January 7th, 2014 at 3:24 pm
I just watched the press conference for the first time. I noticed the moment he acknowledged Mike Alstott was right when Ira asked if Lovie planned to bring former Bucs into the organization in an official capacity.
Mike has been coaching high school football as a head coach.
Now, I’m not saying mike should be given a huge position, but an assistant coach of the Fullbacks, he might turn Mike James into A-Train part two.
I’ve been tracking down all the interviews of Lovie since his hire to try to buy into all this. I have to say, he really is nailing the interviews. He almost seemed like a preacher at the PC.
Speaking of which, I loved the new format of the press conference. Is showing the media people asking questions going to be the new norm or just a one time thing?
I feel better right now than I did 5 hours ago or yesterday. But who our GM will be and how involved they will be is important. One thing you can say about Greg Schiano is his draft evaluations were phenomenal. He hit pretty much 100% on the last draft, and did a great job the year before.
To this day, I don’t believe Glennon was drafted to be anything more than a quality backup. Greg was denied the chance to draft a first round QB from the start. Of course, losing the first rounder in the last draft landed us Revis, which is a good thing.
As to Lovie Smith, I loved his presser, his interview with Steve (BD) and such. Still seeking reasons to embrace the whole enchilada, but I’m getting there.