Chucky: “Dirk Koetter Is The Wild Card”
May 14th, 2015
Yes, Jon Gruden, the heralded Chucky, seems to “love” about 97 percent of players in the NFL. That’s his BSPN shtick. He luvvvvs that guy (insert name).
But if you can wade through all the gushing, sometimes you’ll find telling kernels.
Chucky hopped on Ronnie and TKras on WDAE-AM 620 this morning and had plenty of love for Jameis Winston, slobbering over how much Jameis (all together now) loves football and is so hungry and well trained by Jimbo Fisher.
But what interested Joe was his comments about Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter.
“I think Dirk Koetter is the wild card in this,” Chucky said. “I think he’s an excellent coach. He was a head coach in college. He did a nice job at Jacksonville. He did a nice job in Atlanta. He runs an uptempo offense. He knows how to feature receivers. Just look what he did with Julio Jones and Roddy White, and now he gets Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson; there’s some good pieces in place. …
“I just think Dirk Koetter’s the right guy. He’s experienced. He’s good with quarterbacks. He’s got a track record.
“If Jameis is all ears for a while he learns his system, he’ll be in good hands.”
Chucky is on the money here. Koetter is a wild card, and he is a true professional at managing an attack and maximizing receivers. Julio Jones had his best season last year, catching 104 balls for 1,593 yards, and Roddy White added 900+. But Koetter also revived Devin Hester’s lost receiving career, milking 38 catches from him in very part-time duty.
Yes, Koetter is an experienced hand in the passing game. And the Falcons racked up a stunning 381 points last year with a garbage offensive line and a running game worse than the Bucs’.
The mere presence of Koetter represents hope. But he’ll only go as far as his quarterback takes him.
May 14th, 2015 at 1:38 pm
koetter is the kingpin to the turnaround.
all this hogwash about how the bucs defense was so good is just that. the opponents played down to them.
If we do have some success on offense, the defense will be exposed. My hope is that koetter can right the ship, lovies and his D coordinator are fired at years end and we promote Koetter to HC, bring in a new D coordinator familiar with cover two….someone who won’t need to change all the players AGAIN! and then build towards a championship contender.
lovie needs to go, but it’s just too soon right now.
May 14th, 2015 at 1:44 pm
If Koetter and Winston have instant success I hope Bajakian is ready to take over because Koetter will be a head coaching candidate…
May 14th, 2015 at 1:47 pm
Lovie went from 5-11 to 11-5 in his first two years in Chicago.
So, 8-8 is about right.
He has proven that a six game jump is possible.
May 14th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
To be fair, most of those 381 points were against the Bucs.
May 14th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
Koetter could just as easily be running more than just the offense for the Bucs. I’m sure Lovie could learn a thing or two from him.
May 14th, 2015 at 1:51 pm
Chucky loves or hates whoever helps his ratings. I am also very excited about Koetter, Im just afraid if we do really well he will be offered a head coaching job somewhere else and take off quickly
May 14th, 2015 at 1:53 pm
Da’ Coach
May 14th, 2015 at 1:54 pm
@BUCFANFOREVER
LMFAO. Oh the pain!
May 14th, 2015 at 1:55 pm
You fire Lovie and promote the OC people make me sick.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:01 pm
Get use to Lovie smart guys,he just drafted his meal ticket ya know that guy from BeBessmemer. This place reeks with haters. Hate head coach,hate the promising new QB. Some of you make it easy to see what your true disdain is really a result of.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:02 pm
Jameis better learn all he can from Dirk. Dirk will be gone in 2-3 years as a HC somewhere.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:02 pm
Lovie is the weakest link in the entire bucs organization. Good guy, average coach wjo is a horrendous personnel man. Just like Dungy, Lovie will need to be replaced g or the bucs to consistently contend. Lovie has never consistently contended therefore criticism and doubt are justified
May 14th, 2015 at 2:05 pm
oh, yeah we should be elated with the coach that was the worst in the league last year and we should bow to the glory of the #1 pick with more off the field issues than anyone in history taken #1.
Some of you make it easy to see what your true loyalty is really a result of.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:07 pm
No matter what Koetter does it will be better than the nightmare we witnessed last year with Arroyo at the wheel.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Answer me this,what Belichek coaching record before he had Brady. Also,how many OCs has he Belichek gone thru during they’re tenure in New England? As for Lovie I only hear computer geeks call this man a bad head coach. I never heard a pro player utter such a thing. Why,maybe all I need to do is review his track record. Superbowl winning DQ,8+ double digit winning seasons in Chicago,a superbowl appearance with rex grossman as the QB. 22 different starting QBs during his time in the chi. Had this man had himself what we call a franchise QB,no telling how many chips he would already have.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:17 pm
Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun
it’s not hate pointing out facts and holding a coach with full control accountable for his mistakes. It’s no different complaining about a player who stinks it up on Sunday or is a walking penalty machine. Lovie stunk it up last year no way you can sugar coat that. the coach does not get a free pass because you like the guy and he is a good guy. He is paid to win and all he has done is lose. Not only lose but the way they lost. Lovie coached teams have 2 of the most embarrassing loses in the history of the national football league not just Tampa. it’s not hate pointing out the obvious and holding a coach accountable for his many, many mistakes and stubborn system which does not get the best from his players. the object is to win not to play not to lose.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:17 pm
I just keep telling myself that they tanked the season last season and Lovie’s not that bad of a coach.
I don’t know why, but it works for me.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:21 pm
Buc1987
I am glad you found somehting that works for you. I have tried everything
May 14th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
Buc1987 these folks know we tank. But won’t give Lovie a pass for it. They gave the spurs a pass when tank for Duncan. No one complain about how could the Colts gal that far off when Peyton wasn’t around thusly paving the way for Luck. I’ll go to my grave with the belief that 2014 was all about tanking for Jamies. Players taking a vote,C’mon man how folks gone act like they don’t know what last season was.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:29 pm
I think it’s much easier my way instead of trying to figure what the hell happened last season and why. They just tanked after week 4.
It also seemed to me that there was quite a few players that simply did not want to be in Tampa. Some of them still remain. Yet from what we were told through various outlets is that Lovie is a players coach.
I also think that as Bucs fans we have (the majority of us) grown too impatient and when we saw the team go backwards last season from Schiano, it jacked up our impatience another notch.
I really don’t don’t know where this team headed right now, but I’m tired of having to start all over again with a new coach. I don’t want that to happen again, this time being Lovie on the chopping block. I hope he gets this thing turned around this season for OUR sake, not Lovie’s, he gets paid either way.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:31 pm
Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun
so say I give you a free pass on the theory lovie tanked last year but that’s a stretch… I am sure he tossed away the 29 million plus in glazer money for fun too just to make sure the tank job had some back story.
how do you explain his average to below average barely over 500 coaching record and a 3-3 playoff record in previous nine years. not to mention he only went to playoffs back to back once and it was a long long time ago. So based on he mediocre numbers I am supposed to blindly support him and put all my faith that lovie will fix the team i love. If not I am a hater. got it… hilarious but I understand it. it simply does not matter the facts because you like the dude.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
The Bucs for the first time in a LOOOOONG time have a real OC. Dirk is a tremendous asset to Lovie, and I hope the Bucs are willing to pay this guy as much as they pay their head coach. Unfortunately Dirk is destined to be a head coach sometime in the near future. I just hope that by the time he leaves the team, the system is in place, Winston has plenty of experience, and Bajakian is ready to follow up in Dirk’s footsteps. Go Bucs!
May 14th, 2015 at 2:42 pm
I agree he tanked.
but some of the stuff EARLY last year was absolutely clueless. He was HORRIBLE!
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE!!!
Like when they had a chance in one game, and the defense was on the field for like 20 minutes or so, we had 3 timeouts and he NEVER called a timeout. THEY NEEDED A BREATHER MAN!!! and the next day lovie said he does not believe in fatigue!
the defensive scheme was unwatchable. The offense was just as bad…and A HECK of a lot of that was on lovies decisions on who to play and how to call the game.
his game management, clock management, defense (his specialty) , personell decisions……c’mon man. C’MON MAN!
The guy was so bad I QUIT watching. IT WAS THE WORST COACHING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE MAN!!
May 14th, 2015 at 2:46 pm
VegaBuc:
Yes, lets hope Barjakian follows up in Dirk’s footsteps as OC and Dirk followis up to become head coach of the Bucs. Will wait and see though, what Lovie can do if he supposedly has an offense now. Then all the pressure will be on him defensively to keep up with the offense.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:49 pm
So let get this,he’s had count’em a whopping “2”!! losing season during his time as a head coach over 10 seasons. Damn! seem like winning pedigree if you ask me.
May 14th, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Hey now leave Arroyo alone! If it weren’t for him we would have Jameis Winston 🙂 One day there will be a statue of Arroyo outside of RayJay.
May 14th, 2015 at 3:01 pm
sorry, I can’t count his past history, good or bad.
what I know is the product he put on the field last year.
and it’s one heck of a stretch to even compare him to bilicheat. he isn’t even in his league. couldn’t even wash his shorts for that matter.
May 14th, 2015 at 3:01 pm
Captain doom,look at your opening statement of your last post. “I agree we tanked”. Would that leave you to assume that some of the play calling would look suspicious,if you’re going for the number one pick would it not be safe to assume the play is going to sometimes make you scratch your head. I mean bro think about it for a moment man.
May 14th, 2015 at 3:04 pm
I have been telling other bucs fans that we got lucky getting Koetter to remake the offense. If this offense becomes explosive this year and Winston looks good in it, Koetter will be a top HC candidate in 2016.
May 14th, 2015 at 3:07 pm
thats the only rational explanation is that he tanked…….but this was early in the season. unless his plan from day one was too tank, then there’s no excuse for some of the decisions he made. personally i think he made the decision to tank when he put mcclown back in. but it was real ugly even before that.
I hope he turns it around. we need stability. he deserves another year….but if he is still making knuckleheaded calls then thats just bad coaching.
May 14th, 2015 at 3:08 pm
We are bound to be better now that we actual have a QB and an OC.
May 14th, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Okay captain Doom I can’t argue with that. But for the sake of the debate. Let’s give the man one more season to show and prove. We love our Buccs and in my opinion we about to kick a whole lot of arse.
May 14th, 2015 at 4:11 pm
Smith made the playoffs three times and reached the Super Bowl once in Chicago, but he missed the playoffs in five of his last six seasons, and as a result he will not be back.
The last year when he DIDN’T make the playoffs he won TEN games and was in CONTENTION until the final year of the season.
TMAX You NEVER post a single fact to back up your Lovie hatred because the facts do not back up…OK not hatred but erroneous opinions.
Lovie has never consistently CONTENDED therefore criticism and doubt are justified
Emphasis in that statement was mine to empathize the error in Tmax’s statement. Tmax look up hyperbole. You are guilty big time my friend.
He only had three losing seasons in nine years with Chicago. He went to the Super Bowl and won 10 or more games in 4 of those five seasons…that is contending!!!
Now I will do some hating for you Tmax. I HATE Dungyball. And so I’ve never been a huge Lovie Smith fan. I simply believe the NFL has moved on from Dungyball because of rule changes and it’s boring as hell to watch. If you weren’t a Buc’s fan who got off watching our SB champs. That’s not exciting football except for the fans of the winning team.
Disliking a style…or pointing out flaws in a coaches approach is one thing…but exaggeration and hyperbole and total absence of a single fact to back up your point is another.
Life is graded on the curve. Lovie gets scored against ALL the other NFL head coaches of his era and his W-L record holds up well against many of them.
Now if we can get back to opinions…IMHO this year is huge coachs like Lovie and Jeff Fischer and Andy Reid. I think all three of these guys are GOOD coaches. But for them to move into he excellent ranks they need to win this year and next.
Belicheat was a LOSING coach before Brady….Lovie is NOT a losing coach before Fameis. If Fameis turns out to be 3/4 of what’s been advertised you’re going to be sick Tmax because Lovie…like Belicheat…is going to be crowned a genius and great coach. Even thought that is clearly untrue with Belicheat who not only won NOTHING without Brady…he cheated to win with him!!!
Your statements are frequently factually untrue.
May 14th, 2015 at 4:17 pm
BTW 2-14 Sucks. Nobody can argue that. But it’s not his entire body of work
And so for those of you in the Tmax camp who claim Lovie has done nothing in the NFL because of that 2–14 disaster are you going to say that Lovie is the next Don Shula if he reaches the playoffs next year.
IE Would a 12-4 season make Lovie a genius? Or would it be just ONE season?
May 14th, 2015 at 4:18 pm
Why did I ask that stupid question when I know what Tmax and Capt Doom would say after a 12-4 season for the Bucs next year.
Wow Koetter was great…Fameis the best…and isn’t Lovie the luckiest bad coach in the NFL.
May 14th, 2015 at 4:19 pm
True!
May 14th, 2015 at 4:24 pm
@tmax he has had one year as a HC and lost his OC a month before the season started … Give the guy a chance we can’t change HCs every two years and ever expect to be come a great team (New England longtime coach, giants longtime coach, Pittsburgh same thing… Then there is the browns , lions , raiders who change all the time and suck all the time and Detroit has/had some of the best players in the nfl)
May 14th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
We are coming back to respectability people! #BUCUP #BELIEVETHAT
May 14th, 2015 at 4:33 pm
THAT’S MR. CAPTAIN DOOM.
And if his game time decisions and clock management continue like they were last year we could have brady and peyton backing him up and still finish below .500
May 14th, 2015 at 4:33 pm
Damn,Stpetebucsfan went in,I choose to not do that much leg work but man I appreciate your effort to set some of these cats straight. Salute to you my dude.
May 14th, 2015 at 4:35 pm
@Tmax changing HC’s every two years = crappy teams give lovie a chance bro!
May 14th, 2015 at 4:42 pm
That’s Mr. captain dumb to you!
May 14th, 2015 at 4:43 pm
This just in:
Lovie has only been coach of the bucs one season.
May 14th, 2015 at 4:43 pm
But captain Doom you just agreed we were tanking. How can you still be griping about something like clock management. You’re right,we were tanking bro. What would you expect.
May 14th, 2015 at 4:45 pm
Thank you Eric! Tell these bright guys again for me homie.
May 14th, 2015 at 4:54 pm
Don’t love to hate the Lovie you bunch of unfounded haters. Get some facts before you open your yap. Yes he is a defensive coach, yes he likes to run the ball, and yes he supposedly doesn’t care about the offense. But Damn look at the guy’s track record and then speak. STFU if you are just gonna come and hate. IMO
May 14th, 2015 at 4:58 pm
And one last thing,someone made mention about the opinions of folks on other sites outside of joebucsfan.com… Well do me a favor and tell them folks I said mutha@$!# they opinion about this site,this the one I call home.
May 14th, 2015 at 5:30 pm
Nole on Sat
Agree man. I sometimes visit the other sites, less and less, and JBF has the best site IMO. And while I love the Joes I love the commenters here as well and they draw me to this site too.
May 14th, 2015 at 5:36 pm
Captain Doom or Captain Dooma$$
I never resort to calling other posters names but man does this guy get under my skin with all the negativity. Drink some joy juice or down some happy pills bro!
May 14th, 2015 at 5:39 pm
Warren…Capt Doom is robert 9. Now it should make perfect sense to you.
You’re welcome!
May 14th, 2015 at 5:49 pm
I’m tired of the revolving coaching door. If I’m the Glazers I’m keeping Lovie for his entire contract no matter what the Bucs record is. Give him time. If it doesn’t work out it can’t get much worse than the last few years. Continuty
May 14th, 2015 at 7:46 pm
Best article I have read in a while regarding the importance of an OC. Some idiots think he’s just a guy on the staff. In our case he is THE key for this team to succeed.
My fear is what happens two years from now…..I like Lovie and he is a good guy but if Koetter is looking at HC gigs in two years and I’m the glaziers……bye Lovie!!!
May 14th, 2015 at 7:47 pm
Maybe in two years Lovie steps down to DC and let’s Koetter take the gog to stay in Tampa.
May 14th, 2015 at 8:01 pm
Still a little early to revel in the hype. Remember how we all took the bait prior to last seasons’s disasterous beginnings? However if the offense is improved, I do see us winning 5 more games than last yr. And if the defense this year can just hold..slightly..we win another 3 to 5 than last. I’m not worried about our Offense that much. But I’m terrified at our lack of a pass rush. Still have not seen us commit to a dynamic player at this position. I’ll just..pray..our Defense gets a little better this season.
May 14th, 2015 at 8:19 pm
Stpete
you just choose to ignore the stats and facts that I have posted repeatedly. Love has 1 back to back playoff appearance in 10 years of coaching that is not impressive nor consistent. He is barley over 500 and is .287 winning percentage against teams over 500 is pathetic.. that’s enough right there.
now you tell me what he has done to earn the ultimate free pass he receives here.
Getting to a super bowl and losing means nothing. he lost. The reason he ahd to do it with rex grossman is he would not know a good draft pick if he bit him in the arse. Again, if the best you got is he made it to a super bowl with rex grossman that’s weak.
Take a look at pete carrol for instance. about the same time in coaching 9 years look at petes winning percentage against teams above 500 and his playoff record. No snapshots well this 3 game stretch in 99 lovie was the greatest sideline coach in the history of football. lovie entire body of work is mediocre at best.
Lovie is a joke and I’ll gladly have the last laugh on this one unfortunately my team will have to suffer.
May 14th, 2015 at 8:21 pm
i love how you guys defend lovies mistakes by saying at least he cut them… i wish the glazers would admit their mistakes and save the bucs before lovies pathetic scheme wastes America’s Quaterback, LVD and Ice Cream Man
May 14th, 2015 at 8:49 pm
I hope and pray that Koetter doesn’t let us down. I’m still not convinced that he’s that great. I can’t get past the 7 point effort last year in the NFCS championship game or the 4-5 win seasons they had the last two years. Idk again I hope and pray he gives us the production atl had 4 years ago when they went the the NFC championship game.
Either way I know this as a FACT, Jameis Christ the Savior will succeed dispite Lovie and/or Koetter, actually it’s more like dispite Fraziers possy a$$
May 14th, 2015 at 9:12 pm
Jamies accuracy alone is lethal,couple that with weapons this young man is about to grow with I can only see positive results occurring. You blast Lovie tmax,I wonder how you feel about Belichek. If Lovie had Brady during his time in the chi the results would’ve been about the same. Again this man had 22 different starting QBs. With the defence he fielded in Chicago had the man had an elite QB he wouldn’t even be here,he would be the king of Chicago. You throw out stats,tell me about the QB play of the opponents he lost to in those games.
May 14th, 2015 at 9:19 pm
I understand your points WS99 but the ATL had huge numbers of injuries in the past 2 seasons which contributed to them being about as bad as the Bucs in 2013 and just a tad better in 2014. I mean when you have a geriatric at rb and are forced to make Harry Douglas your #1 wideout then it is hard to really run your gameplan. Harry Douglas was like ****ing Ricky Proel: he only played well against the Bucs, no one else…. And look, Koetter has to do a better job than Arroyo, it could not possibly get worse than it was last year…
May 14th, 2015 at 9:20 pm
Tmax
Whoa…Pete Carroll is probably the BEST coach in the league right now. Although he is responsible for the single worst call I’ve EVER seen in the NFL!
Still I agree completely if you’re suggesting you’d prefer to have Carroll coaching our team than Lovie. I could come up with a a dozen or so more but after that not so many.
My point is not that Lovie is great…it’s that he has a decent to good record and since he’s still coaching the book is not closed. Same for Fisher and Reid.
IF Lovie actually turns Koetter loose that will impress me greatly. Not many human beings are smart enough to admit their mistakes and change course.
If Lovie goes from DungyBall to NFL2015 ball it will say a lot about his character.
At this point I don’t won’t to go overboard with praise for Lovie because I think the verdict is still out. But I simply do not believe Lovie sucks nearly as much as you portray. 50 coaches in the 50 year history have made it to the SB. It’s not really that easy.
May 14th, 2015 at 9:24 pm
You folks hoping,wishing and praying on the day Lovie will be gone do yourself a favor and not hold your breath. You might die,the Lovie/WINSton marriage is about to be a lengthy one. Defensive head coach+elite QB play=multiple superbowl wins. Call him what you want but ask Belichek. You know the guy that was on his way out the league before Brady emerge.
May 14th, 2015 at 9:30 pm
Stpete,first they were saying he doesn’t care about offense. See his first two drafts. My belief is that like what you touch on,He took a year away from the game and went back further than his time in Chicago. Instead went back to his time in St. Louis and recalled how dynamic the greatest show on turf was. All these young thunder cats he’s drafted. I find it hard to believe he won’t unleash Koetter.