Lovie Smith’s Power
January 12th, 2014
An NFL insider reveals a division
A lot has been made about how much power new Bucs coach Lovie Smith wields within the organization. Joe believes Lovie was granted great power by Team Glazer, otherwise, he would have interviewed with other teams, if for no other reason than to hear what others would offer.
That didn’t happen. Team Glazer got the man they wanted right away; the speed of this hire suggested Lovie got what he wanted.
In recent interviews, Lovie has waved off the idea that he has full and total control of the football operations. Some NFL insiders have hinted one reason the Bucs have not hired a general manager yet is that candidates are wary of being a figurehead.
Well, plugged in Adam Caplan, of ESPN and the Eagles official website, was digging and believes he has found how much power Lovie indeed does have.
@caplannfl: Some nuggets on Bucs GM search: HC Lovie Smith holds final say on 53; GM will hold final say on draft.
This doesn’t seem unreasonable. A coach should have final say on his roster or, otherwise, he is a mere puppet. And a general manager should have final say on the draft. After all, if draft picks don’t pan out, then it’s the trigger-pulling general manager who is ultimately responsible (ask former Bucs general manager Mark Dominik about leaky Rip Van Freeman).
If a prospective general manager can get hired and/or fired for his picks, he damned well better have the final say on the draft.
January 12th, 2014 at 8:59 am
To us fans that seems perfectly reasonable but then again I would never know what consequences it would have on a GMs job from a contract perspective or otherwise.
Joe- are you able to enlighten us rubes about why it is important for GMs traditionally to have control over the 53?
The only thing that’s important is winning. The best GM/Coach situations are well balanced splits of power and respect. Ultimately, we don’t know how that will shake out in Tampa under Lovie. If Dominik, for example, brought in players Schiano didn’t want to use, then what would be the point of that? Or why, again for example, would Dominik draft a player he knew wasn’t a Schiano type of guy? There’s a ton of give and take. Lovie, unfortunately, wasn’t stellar on the personnel side in Chicago. –Joe
January 12th, 2014 at 9:10 am
I’m not sure this is a major issue because of the type GM Lovie is….I think he likes to share responsibility(better word than power).
There are countless talented prospects who want the promotion badly to show what they can do. I’m sure we’ll have a good GM soon.
I’m not so concerned about the power issue…just the decisions they make.
January 12th, 2014 at 9:10 am
HC Lovie is…..
January 12th, 2014 at 9:25 am
I think that’s what the model SHOULD be. If I were HC I wouldn’t want it any other way. And if I were GM, I wouldn’t want it any other way either. Plus there is a difference between final say and total control.
January 12th, 2014 at 9:28 am
The way my imagination pictures it, is when Lovie said “I want final say on the 53”, the Glazers jumped up as fast as they could to shake his hand and say “Deal.” Just like Kramer on Seinfeld when he sued that coffee shop, and they low balled him with free café latte’s for life.
January 12th, 2014 at 9:32 am
Hopefully Lovie won’t let talent go because they are not Buccaneer men Blount only had four touch downs yesterday. But hey we got a seven round pick for him and Demps we fleeced those Patriots didn’t we.
January 12th, 2014 at 9:33 am
Welcome to the off season folks. The first of many non-issues that aster going to.gr overblown because there really isn’t anything else to talk about.
January 12th, 2014 at 9:35 am
Sorry about the typos. Believe you could get the gist of it though
January 12th, 2014 at 9:36 am
Do we have to call him Lovie? Can we call him Coach? Or Thurston Howell III or somthing else? Lovie??? Think it over Joe. I mean he was named after his great aunt, Lavana.
January 12th, 2014 at 10:00 am
Think the reason the Glazer’s went this route is they believe they can win now. They made a strong move and put Lovie in a position of power to get this accomplished. If by chance the success does not come they would probably go back to the mind set of a top flight GM who has the power base.
January 12th, 2014 at 10:12 am
I don’t get why this even had to be reported; most if not all coaches have control of the final 53. And the GM runs the draft but they both need each other to make themselves look good.
A GM in control of the draft would want to know the players the coach likes to try to ensure his draft picks stick and vice versa the coach wants the GM to acquire the best players available so he can win games.
Of course their are players that the coach loves and the GM loves and that’s where the good working relationship comes in; where the GM says I don’t like this player as much but I’ll stick my neck out and draft him anyway. On the otherhand there may be a player the GM thought a lot of that isn’t developing as fast as desired; he will fight for that player on the final 53 and the coach; even though, he feels the guy can’t play will keep him on the final roster for the GM. Sometimes the coach is right other times the GM is right but each has their roles to make the team better but the team comes out the best when both work together and support each other.
January 12th, 2014 at 10:26 am
I don’t have a problem with Lovie having total control of the 53 man roster. I believe most of the successful franchises give that power to the HC, regardless if the owner agreed to give the power to the HC or not. Seattle wouldn’t have played Wilson his rookie year if the HC didn’t have control specially after the GM went all out and did a horrible trade for a bust QB…
The main reason why Dominik is not here was probably because all the contract mistakes he made. For instance, he traded for Winslow and became the #1 TE on the depth chart without even having one practice under his belt, soon thereafter, Winslow realize that his HC didn’t have control over him because the GM was calling the shots. It also happened with Singano as well, so it wasn’t a Rah problem.
In order to have a successful team the players have to understand that the HC has all the power when it comes to sticking on the roster… That’s why I have no problem with Lovie having power over the final 53, that’s the way it should be…
January 12th, 2014 at 10:33 am
It had to be reported because people are interested in the information.
January 12th, 2014 at 11:02 am
I agree with the majority of the sentiments expressed in the above post.(1) the power issue is mute. Winning is everything. (2) We have seen the Schiano-Dominick power balance, the Morris-Dominick power balance, and the Gruden-Allen balance in the recent past. All had loosing records (with one Super Bowl.)
(3) There is the Bill Parcel philosophy, the Jerry Jones approach, and the Daniel Snyder plan. Who cares, “Just win Lovie.”
January 12th, 2014 at 11:02 am
People are interested only because certain media people are making a big deal about it. Reporting the fact that Lovie has control of the final 53 man roster when all coaches have that power offers nothing. I mean Schiano had that power. If this is the case then Lovie has no real power. I thought the story was that he has total power. Either way, I don’t care and I am tired of hearing about it when none of these people know what type of power Lovie has; just like they knew Schiano was safe, right!
January 12th, 2014 at 11:28 am
* Moot, not mute.
* The issue of “power” only is an issue in a dysfunctional organization. If the GM and coach are working well together, it is a consensus building process.
January 12th, 2014 at 11:59 am
LOVIE! Wow that puts the fear of God in ya.
January 12th, 2014 at 12:16 pm
Joe- thanks for the response but you didn’t answer my question. Can I assume that you do not know the answer? I think it would inform the discussion. Thanks!
January 12th, 2014 at 12:21 pm
Like Gruden said when he was here “if I’m gonna cook the stew, I want to pick out the groceries”
January 12th, 2014 at 2:08 pm
The issue of power is of major concern to the new GM.
Imagine when McCoy wants $25 million annually for 10 years guaranteed and Lovie demands that they sign him now. Give him what ever he wants.