Concern For Dirk Koetter?
April 11th, 2015
By all measures, it seems the Bucs scored a touchdown landing Dirk Koetter as the team’s new offensive coordinator. Virtually everywhere he has been, Koetter has pumped out decent if not good offenses.
Koetter made former America’s Quarterback David Garrard into a solid signal-caller. And we all know the success Koetter had with Matty Ice in Atlanta.
But it was the quarterback that Koetter couldn’t develop, the notorious Blaine Gabbert, that has raised an eyebrow of Pat Yasinskas, of ESPN.com.
Koetter’s history with a rookie quarterback isn’t very good. In 2011, the Jaguars drafted Blaine Gabbert in the first round. Gabbert struggled mightily in a season that got coach Jack Del Rio fired.
Gabbert completed only 50.8 percent of his passes for 2,214 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That was the only season Koetter and Gabbert were together. You can’t put all the blame on Koetter. Gabbert’s stats were worse the next two years in Jacksonville before he ended up as a backup in San Francisco last season.
Maybe Gabbert was overrated coming out of college. But Koetter’s experience with a rookie quarterback could be a cause for concern because the Bucs are likely to use the No. 1 pick in the draft on Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota.
Could be a combination of things here. First, Gabbert wasn’t very good. Pretty sure if Jim Harbaugh couldn’t turn around Gabbert (remember, Harbaugh saved Alex Smith’s career), that means Gabbert has the problem.
Also, Gabbert had hot garbage to throw to. Joe was roped into watching Jacksonville at St. Louis a couple of years ago in person with Gabbert as the starting quarterback for the Jags. That may have been the worst NFL team Joe has ever seen.
With the Bucs, Jameis Winston will have Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson. Gabbert never had weapons remotely as talented.
This does bear monitoring, that Koetter has worked well with vets, but not with a rookie. Something to ponder as the season transpires.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:13 am
You can’t make chicken soup out of chicken s**t.
Could also be the reason they are leaning towards JW, less of a developmental process. Not saying Mariota is Gabbert before i get accused of that.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:14 am
I remember Gabbert coming out of college. Hr was always scared in the pocket vs a rush. He folded all the time. Was just more pronounced in Jax. Not Koetter’s fault.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:16 am
Glennon never had a full season with that trio and a proven play caller….
I must ask why is it ok to use that as part of your evaluation with gabbert who is obviously a worse qb than glennon, but with MG its he had his chance we have seen what he has to offer. Mike Glennon was NEVER in a position to succeed last season and didnt even get the full season to get with his pass catchers. All behind the worst line we have seen in forever and a play caller who was not even qualified to carry jock straps to the laundry room…..
Why????
April 11th, 2015 at 10:17 am
Leaf was the one overrated. Was Gabbert? Is Jameis? Yes.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:19 am
Wonder what gabbert has to say about this coach koetter, now that would be a great follow up article.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:21 am
Was Aaron Rodgers underated? Is Marcus Mariota? Yes.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:29 am
I’m not concerned Joes. Gabbert was always overrated and it didn’t surprise me to see him bust.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:30 am
Blaine Gabbert is a real American.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:34 am
Is Pat clueless? Yes
April 11th, 2015 at 10:35 am
Oh yes I’m all in a panic and hysterical knwing now that Gabbert had problems as a rookie under Koetter. Don’t tell Wall St. or there might be a crash.
For gawds sake is that it.
Why doesn’t Kirwan go to work for the National Enquirer and think up scary headlines like, “Children chased by hairy beast in woods.”
Isn’t that the years the TE at Jacksonville had some really good years and they had Maurice Jones’Drew. Noone can remember their WR’s because they didn’t have any.
What stupidity.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:37 am
Are pat’s comments delusional? Yes 🙂 b gabbert, from another gimmick college offense…sound familiar ducks? How many examples do you need? And the fact mariotas was the most gimmicky, of all, is a serious red flag..
April 11th, 2015 at 10:38 am
How long will it be before Tmaxcon shows up and ties his hatred of Lovie into this story.
10, 9, 8…….
April 11th, 2015 at 10:39 am
Mayock had him rated as his #1 qb in the draft that year ahead of Newton.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:41 am
Since you mentioned Cam…My take on Mariota: Smart people make and understand things in Life and in Sports. The knock on him…he’s a system QB…and he was not asked to do those types of things in college. He really reads Defenses well. I think he mastered that offense in Oregon, and he will master an offense in the NFL because he understands the game so well. The biggest thing that gives rookies problems in the NFL, especially on QB, is understanding the game, reading an NFL defense, the verbiage. For example, when Cam Newton came out, and he admitted it right away on how much he was struggling with the verbiage. Athleticism only takes you so far. In the NFL, it’s the ability to understand the game, to read a defense, really get full command of the offense. He was quickly able to pick apart defenses and understand what they were giving him. INTs? Huh?
April 11th, 2015 at 10:45 am
Patty Y’s writing was so shallow, unimaginative and incomplete it should not have been reprinted.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:50 am
Joe,
You can’t make chicken soup out of chicken poop…
Blaine Gabbert? Are you freaking kidding me?
Your going to pin Blaine Gabberts failures on Koetter?
Koetter is the first real offensive coordinator the Bucs have had in nearly a decade!!!
Come on man!!!
April 11th, 2015 at 10:51 am
All that matters to me is that Koetter passed his physical with the Bucs.
April 11th, 2015 at 10:58 am
Lol he ran plays against defenses that were barely even lined up a lot of time because the coaches were flashing cards from the sidelines so fast that they were barely able to even get set before Oregon was hiking the ball. Oregon is a 1 read system and that was very much evident if you watch the Gruden QB camp episode where he forced Mariota to talk about his reads when breaking down one of their plays. Gruden even made the comment “so you’re reading one side of the field”. Mariota may be great but there’s no evidence to prove that he can do what’s necessary at the next level. Spread QB’s more times than not fail in the nfl and so far there has been exactly 0 QB’s come out of a spread up tempo system have success. Maybe Mariota will be the first but I wouldn’t gamble on it with a #1 pick.
April 11th, 2015 at 11:01 am
@mac i dont think joe is really dissing Koetter. Im sure he’s saying that Gabbert is the chicken poop
April 11th, 2015 at 11:05 am
“Pat Says:
April 11th, 2015 at 10:41 am
The biggest thing that gives rookies problems in the NFL, especially on QB, is understanding the game, reading an NFL defense,”
You are massively underestimating Jameis’ knowledge of football x’s and o’s.
“Said the evaluator: “I think he’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever interviewed.”
Freeman also reports that Winston had been compared to Peyton Manning from a football intelligence standpoint “several times” in the reporter’s discussions with club officials.”
You don’t have to believe he is an equal with Peyton. But, if you believe that football IQ is a weakness of his, then you are in the minority.
April 11th, 2015 at 11:15 am
Sometimes the player isn’t good enough, despite the coaching. Sometimes coaches don’t put players in a position to succeed. I think it’s the former.
April 11th, 2015 at 11:23 am
@drdneast
That was funny. Yes Tmax would most certainly blame all of Gabbert’s problem on Lovie! I think tmax suspects that Lovie is one of those hated “libruls”.
As Joe himself has pointed out we’ve entered the silly season. I’m over all of this. The threads that truly interest me at this point are the discussion about picks 2 and beyond.
And that would expand coverage to other teams because we can’t possibly know for sure who we’ll pick with the rest of our choices without also speculating how teams ahead of us will draft. There is tons of fodder for speculation there and I’m pretty well burnt out on the “QB debate”.
April 11th, 2015 at 11:26 am
It was a stupid article. If he can’t make Gabbert a good QB, then there might be some questions about Koetter?!?!… Uh, yeah, OK…
That makes no sense. This is a non-issue and not even worthy of discussion.
April 11th, 2015 at 11:30 am
Pat says: “I think he mastered that offense in Oregon, and he will master an offense in the NFL because he understands the game so well.”
That might actually be the case but if it is, he is not very good at communicating that knowledge which is a factor in his ability to lead.
Case in point, When Gruden asks him about a quick snap count and a play,
Mariota says something like … Yes we did a quick count to throw off the defense. They showed us a tell, its something we worked on all week and we had a play for it. Nothing really wrong with that answer other than it does not demonstrate deep comprehension (maybe he has it). Contrast that to when Gruden asked Winston a similar question. Winstons gets up from his char and says something like Oh, yeah, we were in black, we call it black like black ice, everything is frozen.
He then goes on to explain the defensive positions, what the options are, his call to move the blocking scheme of the line to account for the defensive formation. Either the football awareness between these two is not even close or the ability to share and communicate that knowledge is not even close. Either way the choice has to be Winston.
April 11th, 2015 at 11:32 am
2pm
Back-to-back Winston and Mariota on Grudens QB Camp.
Mariota won me over when he out-Chuckyed Chucky.
Gruden: *Taps on table in irritating way* “Does this bother you?”
Mariota: “Does it bother you?”
April 11th, 2015 at 11:44 am
drdneast
You clearly have a hard on for me. Where should I send the signed picture for you padded room. I’ll stop attacking Lovie when Lovie stops making bad decisions and hurting the team I love.
You and StPete have no argument of the Legend of Lovie. you want to take snapshots of other coaches careers to make Lovie look above average that’s ludicrous. The facts are very simple and straight forward under 500 coach against under 500 teams, barely over 500 league wide in a 10 year career. Only once in ten years has he went to the playoffs back to back. How is that consistent. In 10 years he has NEVER fielded a decent oline so what makes you think he will magically fix the biggest need on the team with undrafted free agents, the draft and other teams garbage. Oh yeah let’s be proud we have the first waiver claim so at least we are first inline at the dump on garbage day.
I also find it very interesting that if a player plays bad or is overpaid that player is fair game…. The hatred and vile nonsense that gets spewed his way on these pages is insane sometimes. But point out the obvious facts about Lovie and the people living in the past get their skirts all ruffled. You are what your record says you are 2-14. you can’t demand full control without taking full responsibility.
If you don’t like the facts about lovie skip me. simple. second please don’t bring that weak arse crap he went to a Superbowl with rex grossoman. HE LOST to the biggest big game choke artist in history.
neast don’t forget to let me know where you want that signed picture sent
April 11th, 2015 at 11:46 am
What QB has Lovie developed? Enough said.
April 11th, 2015 at 11:48 am
@joshp
you CAN make chicken soup out of chicken sh*t… It’ll just be sh*tty chicken soup……
April 11th, 2015 at 11:55 am
and everybody on these pages has a cause they beat to death now and then.
realists love for clayborn was epic
bonzi always being right especially about marinelli
joes love for sabby and myrooooooon lewisssssss
my hatred of lovie and glennon
skylines unconditional love for glennon
barry’s, erik magic potion guy, papadoc, nyfucsfan, robert 9, supersame support for winston
87’s man crush is heart warming and brought a tear to my eye. he is unquestionable first year president of the Jaboo fan club. I am a winston guy 100% but he took it to a new level. great dedication to the cause.
stpetes desire for a bucs fan codependency group on Wednesdays followed by group hug thrusdays.
see everyone has their thing don’t like my thing skip it
I apologize to anyone who has posted an epic rant and beat something to death that I left you off the list.
April 11th, 2015 at 12:06 pm
What QB has Lovie developed? Enough said.
Not really enough. First of course is that Lovie is a defensive coach not an offensive coach. He doesn’t develop QB’s. Now you could perhaps make a rational argument that he as of yet has not found a competent OC to help him draft and develop a QB.
It will not be up to Lovie to develop Fameis/Marcus. That’s why he hired Koetter and Bajakian.
Now I am curious to see if Lovie has any input in continuing the development of Bruce Carter at MLB. Linebacking is reputedly Lovies’ are of expertise. If we’re going to judge him on individual players let’s look at the linebackers!
April 11th, 2015 at 12:07 pm
It must frustrate the Joe(s) that he references an article Pat Yasinskas wrote that brought up the idea that Koetter could struggle with a rookie QB. Joe proceeds to defend Koetter and a bunch of commenters who have zero reading comprehension or just are too lazy to read it criticize him. UGH! No wonder he drinks.
April 11th, 2015 at 12:08 pm
As long as he doesn’t have medical issues we’ll be ok.
April 11th, 2015 at 12:12 pm
Why does everyone think offensive coordinators have Jesus like skills. No one developed Tom Brady, luck or Manning. A good quarterback is a good quarterback this is so stupid and why I laugh when people say let’s see what koetter can do work Glennon. You get their knowledge but you still have to go out on the field and perform in the face of a pass rush. Doesn’t matter how elite your skills are if mentally your unable to deal with pressure consistently, a quarterback who can is not on our roster yet
April 11th, 2015 at 12:12 pm
It’s bogus reporting g time! Media outlets need to post something between now and draft day. So as usual they are posting crap.
Bucs ownership doesn’t like Winston.
Jameis’ own lawyer said he is not NFL ready.
Bucs new OC suck with rookies.
/does faceplate into palm of hand hard enough to leave a mark
It’s going to be a interesting time. We should start a count of bogus articles, if we turned it into a drinking game I might need a new liver by draft day.
April 11th, 2015 at 12:16 pm
@Stanglassman I got the same as you out of the article and then I read the comments and people are bashing Joe. I got confused and read the article again.
April 11th, 2015 at 12:19 pm
Yep. Shaz is correct it’s silly season.
April 11th, 2015 at 1:00 pm
Tmax
I apologize to anyone who has posted an epic rant and beat something to death that I left you off the list.
——————
I’m personally offended that I was left out! I thought I was part of the cool kid crowd. Reality check!! I gots more work to do, thank tmax.
April 11th, 2015 at 1:17 pm
According to an aricle on NFL.Com, Matt Ryan is very happy and excited about having a new OC. Interesting
April 11th, 2015 at 1:31 pm
There’s your reason for JW. Gabbert came from a gimmick offense too.
Reason enough right there!
April 11th, 2015 at 1:46 pm
Less than 3 weeks to go. I have a feeling these articles are going to get wilder and wilder as we get closer.
April 11th, 2015 at 1:47 pm
Koetter did well with Ryan, and my take anyway is he was brought in to develop “Matt Ryan-ish” Mike Glennon as the Bucs starter this year. Maybe they do draft Winston or Mariota in a few weeks, but I still think they’re looking to trade down if another team comes calling with a good offer. We shall see
April 11th, 2015 at 3:44 pm
@ pat
I dont think I could possibly “nope” any harder in response to your post. It was almost as if you had Mariota and Winstons names mixed up when you typed it.
Mariota never read a defense, the sidelines did that for him, and as someone else already pointed out, he only read one side of the defense when that was asked of him.
It’s so fun to see the MM crowd crow about Winstons INT’s yet somehow forget that Mariota averages about a fumble a game.
April 11th, 2015 at 4:01 pm
This means nothing. Dirk has had success with another rookie, so there you go.
April 11th, 2015 at 4:27 pm
Pat Y is off base on this – Gabbert was suspect coming out and went to a franchise in flux and he came from a broken spread system in college.
No I don’t see the direct correlation.
April 11th, 2015 at 4:45 pm
How about instead of trying to count every time MM fumbled look at the number of times he actually turned it over. Should we start adding the total number of times JW threw the ball to a defender who dropped it to his statline? They weren’t turnovers but he gave the other team an opportunity for a turnover just as MM gave an opportunity with fumbles that the Ducks recovered. Bottom line is the turnover.
April 11th, 2015 at 5:56 pm
Here’s the deal: No one knows if Winston or Mariota will be successful.
In this first year, I think either rookie will struggle with so many changes.
If the QB ‘sucks’ this year, then we may have to go though this again next year.
I just hope the owners are patient as Coach Smith builds the team.
The BUCS are not going to climb out of this hole in one year, no matter which QB they pick.
Hopefully, the owners are ready for some rebuilding drama and will be patient.
April 12th, 2015 at 2:37 am
I live in Arizona and remember when Koetter head coached the ASU Sun Devils. He held a 1–11 record against top 10 teams, and was 2–19 (.095) against ranked teams.
Koetter was terminated as ASU head football coach. He was very average at best and is still very average as he progressed in his career. This guy is not a savior, innovator, creator, guru or anything special honestly. Nothing to be excited about or to expect anything out of. So yeah, there is concern for Dirk Koetter as well there SHOULD be.