Operation “Championship Mentality”
April 21st, 2015
Lovie Smith explains
Was the problem with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year all in their heads? Maybe. Joe’s open to the suggestion. Heck, if the loss of good barbecue bonding can be a factor, then anything is possible.
Lovie Smith delivered media an opening address yesterday that included an interesting identification.
Halfway through his state-of-the-state preamble, Lovie said, “We have to change our mentality, get more of a championship mentality. You get that through hard work, starting off in the offseason.”
It felt like quite an admission from the head coach, who takes great pride in his ability to get through to players, and adores his staff of “stern teachers.”
So Joe, without being a wiseguy, asked Lovie to define “championship mentality.”
“There’s a lot of ways you can define it. But I think first, you just have to start having that,” Lovie said. If your goal is – what is the goal of everyone every year? Of course to win the championship. So you have to just, as we talk about it, it’s just working towards that with everything that you do.
“And that’s just trying to do the best that you possibly can every day. Every opportunity, you have a chance to get better. Every opportunity and every day, you have the chance to come in here and work to improve something, you’re getting a championship mentality by that. And that’s just doing everything you possibly can to get better each day with everything that we do, and it’s the mindset that we have right now. We’re all starting from the same spot. And again, why not? Why not us?”
Joe hopes the Bucs get their heads right. That’s a great place for Lovie to start, especially with the expectation of rookies playing a massive role in 2015.
April 21st, 2015 at 10:18 am
Thats fine, but the Bucs are a few years away
April 21st, 2015 at 10:25 am
If have a good draft. I can see us winning 8-10 games
April 21st, 2015 at 10:32 am
sounds like garbage to me. the team has done nothing to address the worst 0-line in the league. it looks like they are going to either keep the duds they have on the o-line or put a bunch of rookie late round draft picks in the lineup.. then they will say the same thing the bucs have said for years as an excuse for losing…we are a young team….LOL
April 21st, 2015 at 10:32 am
That makes sense that it would be a different tone from last year. You can’t really come in the first year and install a “championship mentality” when you’re focusing all of your time on teaching the nuances of your coaching philosophy and getting to know the core of your team. Now that they know their identity and what their coaches bring to the table, they can use that to start moving toward a championship mentality that is more than just empty words meant to get everyone excited.
April 21st, 2015 at 10:34 am
There you have it folks. It’s like the first flower of spring time blooming. The first win total prediction of the year. Arealbucsfan broke the ice. Preempting even the release of the schedule this evening.
April 21st, 2015 at 10:35 am
@buddhaboy
I agree. I’d say we’re another season at least from 8 wins.
I think fans expecting more are the same ones who will turn on the team when it proves to be true.
I look at the needs this team has, and there is just no way to fill them all this year. And, even if they could (which is impossible), no rookie can be instantly great. It takes time to develop young players. EVEN WINSTON.
Add the fact that teams are lucky to hit on half their picks, there is just no way to accomplish a .500 season this year.
I have accepted that, so this season will not disappoint me when it proves to be true.
April 21st, 2015 at 10:37 am
Jameis said he wants to win the Super Bowl next year…shame on him.
April 21st, 2015 at 10:51 am
Bucs are on the cusp of being a playoff team, it takes a certain mentality, I learned that from Joe’s warbling about Lovie S, whose favorite start to any given discussion is, “It’s just………………” Thanks Joe and Lovie, I had no idea.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:13 am
So we didn’t have a championship mentality with Josh McCown trying at quarterback last year?
Thanks Lovie!
April 21st, 2015 at 11:15 am
I expected a 7-9 Schiano team to get better the next season. Then we got 4-12.
How in the hell am I supposed to think a 2-14 team will get musch better this season? I simply can’t.
I also can’t gauge a damn thing this far out.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:16 am
This team can’t go backwards any longer. Slow and steady as she goes. The ship had run aground, it has been brought back into the water. Watch out for those sandbars on either side. Winston has been placed in the wheelhouse, leading to deep water and all clear. Steer this dinghy into relevance!
April 21st, 2015 at 11:22 am
6-10. Still quite a ways away from being anything that resembles contenders. Deeply flawed team, still many holes.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:22 am
I think we are a long way away from winning championships a very long way but a long way from competing for playoffs in this division? nah we can turn that around pretty quickly Atlanta’s roster is weak outside of quarterback and receiver and that can be said for new Orleans also. panthers I just don’t know what to make of them as a team, they are just as much of an enigma as we are but defense is pretty good
April 21st, 2015 at 11:26 am
Every player on every team needs to have that championship mentallity. Every year regardless of how far your team is, if the players dont play to hoist thay Lombardi, they have no business in this league. I hope every one on the Bucs are embarassed about last season. They know its not good enough. The honeymoon’s been over. They know what they’re going to get out of coach Smith and vice versa. Especially on defense. They know by now their role on this defense. Players that didnt were shown the door. If the defense plays like they did holding Green Bay on fourth and goal, consistently, there wont be too many games on our schedule we cant win. Other than Dallas and Indy there is not a team we face that is clearly better than us.
And regarding Jameis, he wont tolerate playing for a loser. Im can see him working his as off trying to turn this thing around. Sure there will be struggles. No transition is perfect. Opposing defenders are going to want to hit the kid hard.
Its impossible to really attempt an accurate prediction of a teams record until late June. But 7-9 sounds about right for a young offense with a rookie quarterback. At least that may be enough to win the division 🙂
April 21st, 2015 at 11:28 am
Here is a philiosphy for you: POUND THE ROCK!
April 21st, 2015 at 11:56 am
Last year Lovie had a vision: get the first pick in this year’s draft!
Mission accomplished!
April 21st, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Now that’s real talk Blogtalkfootball.
April 21st, 2015 at 12:26 pm
Lovie doesn’t know what it takes to win a championship as he has zero Super Bowl rings.
April 21st, 2015 at 12:41 pm
I’m hoping for at least 6-10. And maybe having “real” meaningful games in November.
April 21st, 2015 at 12:41 pm
I expect the bucs to win 100% more games than last year.
April 21st, 2015 at 1:10 pm
We lost NINE games last year by six points or less and two of them in OT. We never made a play when it counted. We had a DB drop a certain INT that would have ended a game in a win. We couldn’t count to twelve and lost a game. We had ASJ drop a first down catch in OT setting up yet another loss.
2-14 sucks but you guys would throw the baby out with the bath water. NINE freaking games by six or less four of them by three or less. And this with the worst OC in the entire league, the worst OL in the entire league and the worst QB in the entire league.
We have replaced the worst OC…we’re about to replace the worst QB…and we still have an off season to improve the worst OL. The defense was improving by the end of the year. Players were finally getting it. All the FA defenders we’ve brought in have already played in Lovie’s system.
There is absolutely NO reason we can’t win ten games in our crapola division with what is projected to be a very weak schedule. UNLESS Fameis is not all that posters here claim he is. And btw I don’t think he needs to be that great to win 10. 9 losses by six or less by last year’s crap team actually leaves cause for hope.
April 21st, 2015 at 2:54 pm
We’ve been hearing these same words “we need a championship mentality” every year from every team for since anyone can remember. Clinton McDonald and hawk were brought in for this exact reason. But…
April 21st, 2015 at 4:24 pm
Lovie wants the team to have a “championship mentality” but he has yet to address the glaring hole the team has at offensive line, good luck with that. Everyone on the team can come in and work hard every day and try to get better but if you’re not very good to begin with you’re not going to win a championship. This
April 22nd, 2015 at 9:36 am
they have to stop trying to import winners from other teams and grow their own.